A Central News Agency (CNA) reporter today resigned after a local news site reported that Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) had organized a group to surveil Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians, and linked the reporter to the group.
CNA, Taiwan's national news agency, in a statement today said that it is processing reporter Hsieh Hsing-en's (謝幸恩) resignation and respects her decision.
"Whether Hsieh's conduct contravened work ethics or company rules will continue to be investigated and clarified by the investigation committee," CNA said.
Photo: Taipei Times file
Hsieh said in a statement that she "chose silence" and would not make any statements "regarding recent misunderstandings and accusations."
"Resignation does not represent failure or concession, but a commitment to media values," she said.
On Friday, news site Mirror Daily reported that Huang formed a surveillance group in 2022, two years after establishing the Taiwan Anti-corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association (TAWPA).
The group, which had about six members, held meetings in an office in Taipei's Daan District (大安), which Huang "often attended in person," the article said.
Hsieh — identified in the article as "a reporter surnamed S" — recruited former journalists experienced in tailing and photography for the group, Mirror Daily reported.
The group's first high-profile case took place in late 2022 and involved DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), the report said.
In 2023, the group's funding shifted from TAWPA to a company called Kai-ssu International (凱思國際), the report said, adding that there were chat records of Huang instructing a paparazzo surnamed Lin (林) to report back to him.
Four people from the group who allegedly followed DPP Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) were employed by Kai-ssu International, including one of Huang's former aides, who handled the group's administrative tasks, Mirror Daily said.
Wang filed a complaint after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) posted photographs on Facebook and accused him of running red lights twice, the report said.
Wang later admitted to the traffic contraventions, but said that the surveillance had left him fearful, the report said
CNA on Friday said that when the Mirror Daily report first appeared, it immediately suspended Hsieh from news reporting, reassigned her to other duties and launched a special investigation into possible breaches of professional ethics.
Huang, who has led the TPP since Jan. 1, has not responded to the Mirror Daily's allegations.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) personnel yesterday expelled two Chinese research vessels from waters north of Taiwan, the CGA said in a news release. The two vessels — the Xiang Yang Hong 18 (向陽紅18) and the Dong Fang Hong 3 (東方紅3) — were detected in waters north of Taiwan at 9:58am, sailing southeast and northeast respectively, it said. The CGA said it dispatched patrol vessels to shadow and monitor the Chinese boats in a two-to-one formation, driving them out of Taiwan’s waters. The research boats were detected 58 nautical miles (107km) northwest of Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼), with the Xiang Yang
SAFE SUPPLY: Drone shipments from Taiwan help Polish companies mitigate disruption from China, which scaled down its sales to European countries Poland has become the biggest buyer of drones from Taiwan as the eastern European country, on Russia’s doorstep, bolsters its defense capabilities and seeks to reduce reliance on Chinese parts. Poland is now absorbing almost 60 percent of Taiwan’s drone exports, which expanded this year to about US$32 million through last month, from almost nothing in the previous years. The next-largest importer of Taiwan’s drones is the US, to which Taiwan sold about US$7 million worth in the same period. Taiwanese drone maker Ahamani said Polish demand was so great it was planning to open a factory there, and that other foreign
The New Taipei District Prosecutors' Office yesterday indicted Luxshare Precision Industry Co chairwoman and CEO Grace Wang (王來春) and three others for contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例). The billionaire businesswoman and cofounder of the China-based electronics manufacturer used a Hong Kong subsidiary in 2018 to acquire a division of Liteon Technology Co, a Taiwanese company, prosecutors said. Wang then sought to register it as an overseas Chinese-invested company, but was rejected by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Investment Commission because its funding involved Chinese capital, prosecutors said. After the rejection, Wang
The Tainan Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is to be a monorail, the first in Taiwan, the Tainan Bureau of Transportation said on Thursday last week. The Tainan City Government has submitted draft regulations governing the technical specifications of monorail systems to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to handle the unprecedented project, the bureau said. Monorail designs are compact and quiet, fast to build, and have a small environmental footprint compared with the steel wheel and bogie design commonly used in Taiwanese cities, it said. Nations across the world operate monorail metro systems, and modern designs often feature separate walkways for maintenance crews
RSS