A whistle-blower organization Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) cofounded worked with news organizations to investigate several cases, the legislator said yesterday, responding to allegations that he formed a group to track Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials and lawmakers.
The Chinese-language Mirror Daily on Friday last week reported that Huang formed a team of reporters and photojournalists in 2022 to follow DPP politicians.
After a weekend of silence on the matter, Huang responded to the allegations on a live-stream on Monday night before saying that his Taiwan Anti-corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association had worked with Taiwan People News and RW News to investigate several cases.
Photo: Lin Che-yuan, Taipei Times
Hsieh Hsin-en (謝幸恩), who covered the judicial beat for the state-funded Central News Agency (CNA), resigned on Monday after being accused of recruiting reporters for Huang’s alleged “paparazzi team” and writing about political scandals in a column on Taiwan People News under the pen name Hsiao Yi-yi (蕭依依).
The Chinese-language RW News yesterday confirmed that effective today, it would cease publication, with all staff to be dismissed as the company prepares to dissolve by the end of October.
That announcement comes after Taiwan Steel Group, its largest shareholder, pulled its investment following the Mirror Daily report.
Huang said he stopped working with the Taiwan People News after it was pressured to take down a photograph of then-Taipei city councilor Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) of the DPP and one of his staff members.
The staff member was at the time being investigated for their alleged involvement in loan shark operations.
“The association looked at different cases and partnered with news media outlets who showed interest in covering some of them... It would of course first ascertain if news media outlets dared to report the cases truthfully. The partnerships would be terminated once news media outlets were found to give in to pressure from the authorities,” Huang told a news conference in Taipei, adding that the association had worked with other news organizations.
Commenting on Hsieh’s resignation, Huang said it was the CNA’s loss, adding that she is now free to conduct investigative reporting.
A Mirror Media report published yesterday said that Huang’s “paparazzi team” was funded by Kai Si International Co, headed by Lee Li-chuan (李麗娟), Huang’s relative by marriage.
The report said that Kai Si paid an estimated NT$10 million (US$328,202) over the past three years to maintain the “paparazzi team,” adding that the group could have received funding from China as there is also a company named Kai Si in Hong Kong.
Huang called the report absurd.
“I would have never guessed that a news reporter would write about such a ludicrous fantasy,” he said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said that information on Kai Si International Co showed it does not have foreign capital, adding that it would need more details before it could comment further.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川), who was among the politicians the team allegedly targeted, demanded answers from Huang.
He said Huang should clarify if he was involved in all of the alleged cases of DPP politicians being followed by the “paparazzi team,” and whether Huang knew the four reporters named in the report and had discussed details of their reporting with them.
Huang should also explain his connection, if any, with Kai Si International, whether he had collaborated with the media to shadow or track his political rivals, and whether he had known in advance about videos and photographs of former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) before they were released by the media, Wang said.
DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that Huang’s rhetoric was still aimed at portraying himself as a champion of justice, but in reality, his definition of justice “keeps shifting.”
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