Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday confirmed that his driver had filed a request for a judicial investigation into secret surveillance by “media teams” reportedly working for Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌).
A news outlet also published a list of top government officials and political allies who were allegedly tailed.
The Chinese-language Mirror News reported that Huang targeted officials in the Presidential Office, lawmakers and top officials in the Executive Yuan and Control Yuan, as well former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in 2022.
Photo: Taipei Times
Kung said that when he was Executive Yuan secretary-general in June, his driver noticed they were being followed for days by a vehicle.
The driver reported it to the police, Kung said, but declined to confirm reports that a former aide of Huang, surnamed Lee (李), had rented the car.
Reports alleged that Huang’s “media teams” secretly surveilled and took photos of senior DPP officials in 2023, including Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and Pan Men-an (潘孟安), then-Vice President William Lai’s (賴清德) campaign manager.
Other figures allegedly targeted by Huang’s “media teams” included former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), former deputy premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), former minister of economic affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), former minister of health and welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) and Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑).
Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that some targets realized they were being followed and reported it to the police, adding that they are considering filing a lawsuit against Huang for breaching the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) and the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), and for offenses against personal privacy.
“Taiwan is a democracy and there is freedom of expression and media freedom, but these have their limits. One must not abuse them to instill fear into others and infringe on the rights of our citizens,” Lee said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) accused Huang of hiring at least two media teams, each with four members who are journalists or photographers, which experts said would have cost at least NT$80 million (US$2.62 million) each year, adding that Huang has allegedly been doing it since 2021.
“The two teams would need financial backing, such as wages and daily expenses, so where is the funding coming from?” Wang said.
He said he demanded a judicial investigation due to national security concerns, as he suspected that Huang was receiving funding from a foreign state.
Mirror News said that Huang allegedly began working with journalist Hsieh Hsing-en (謝幸恩) in 2021, with the latter using her contacts to hire reporters and photographers.
Huang through Kai Ssu International Co and the Anti-Corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association, both of which are believed to be under his control, allegedly created “media teams,” which were headed by Hsieh, the report said.
The alleged goal was to “dig up dirt” Huang could publicize or give to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers to accuse the people of wrongdoing, the report said.
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