A Central News Agency (CNA) reporter yesterday resigned following a local media report that linked her to a group allegedly organized by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) to track Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials and lawmakers.
The state-affiliated agency on Friday suspended Hsieh Hsing-en (謝幸恩) from news reporting and launched an internal investigation into possible breaches of professional ethics following the report by the Chinese-language Mirror Daily (鏡週刊).
DPP Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) last week accused Huang of organizing the group to follow him.
Photo: CNA
Hsieh said yesterday that she also resigned as head of the Taipei Judiciary Journalists’ Association.
“Resignation does not mean failure or concession, but a commitment to media values,” she said a statement.
“Media workers have gradually drifted away from the original spirit of professionalism and independence, as they become tools of certain political powerful groups,” the statement said.
Wang said that Hsieh did not address the allegations.
“Her statement talks about something vague, pretending to respond to questions. [However,] she does not admit to wrongdoing, does not own up to becoming embroiled in Huang’s surveillance team, and people do not know what issues she was referring to,” Wang said.
Wang said that as Hsieh did not deny her alleged involvement in the group, it “confirmed the accusation.”
The Mirror Daily reported that Huang in 2022 organized a team to follow politicians, two years after establishing the Taiwan Anti-corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association.
Wang alleged that Hsieh used her access as a news reporter to pass on information to Huang to smear his political opponents.
“This violates ethics and codes of conduct for journalists, and is also direct interference and manipulation of the media by political parties,” Wang said.
DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) urged Huang to respond to the Mirror Daily report.
“Huang had been vociferous in attacking the ruling government over the misuse of media power. Now he is accused of unlawfully using a team to spy on opposition politicians; so he hides away, staying low like a turtle,” Hsu said.
In his weekly live stream last night, Huang denied the allegations that he was “hiding away,” saying that he was busy over the weekend, including helping at a rest stop for cyclists competing in the 2025 Tour of Grand Taipei on Saturday.
Huang said that after reading the Mirror Media article on Friday, his immediate reaction was: “Isn’t Mirror Media itself the biggest paparazzi organization in Taiwan? Don’t you feel ashamed writing this kind of stuff?”
As for the Taiwan Anti-corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association, Huang said he established that organization before returning to the legislature last year with the aim of protecting whistle-blowers who expose corruption.
At the time, he provided legal assistance to whistle-blowers free of charge and also investigated cases involving the public interest, he said, adding that the association was not interested in uncovering scandals involving sex or gossip.
Additional reporting by Lin Tse-yuan
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