Bowing three times before reporters, 36-year-old Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳) apologized yesterday more than a week after a VCD that allegedly showed her having a sexual encounter with a married man was distributed by a weekly tabloid-style magazine.
The former director of the Hsinchu Cultural Affairs Bureau spoke in public for the first time yesterday since the scandal erupted, 12 hours after the key suspect in the secret taping was summoned for questioning, local Chinese-language media reported.
Accompanied by her lawyer Chung Yung-sheng (鍾永盛) and her friend, New Party Taipei City Councilor Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊), Chu told reporters yesterday she was deeply sorry for the incident.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"I kept bad company and erred. I feel deeply ashamed for causing such an uproar in society," Chu said before bowing to reporters, who mobbed her at the entrance of her former residence.
The "bad company" she referred to is believed to be her former "spiritual growth" instructor Kuo Yu-ling (
Chu had previously attended classes taught by Kuo at a "religious healing" organization called Avatar.
"The statements Kuo made to prosecutors and the media are at odds with the truth. ... Now that the investigation has been conducted, I will provide only prosecutors with details about the case," Chu said.
"I hope that after the truth is discovered, the judges will seek heavy penalties [for those involved]."
After reading her statement, Chu collapsed, crying.
She was rushed to a hospital for treatment.
Kuo has emerged as a key figure in the controversy as investigators try to determine who was behind the taping of the video, which was shot with a pinhole camera.
Prosecutors for the first time questioned Kuo early yesterday morning. After a four-hour interrogation, Kuo was released around 4am.
According to local Chinese-language media, Kuo told prosecutors that Chu had requested that a hidden camera be installed in her room in order to protect her personal safety. But Kuo said she did not know the location of the pinhole camera.
Spokesman for the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), refused to confirm Kuo's statements.
Chen said the case was a criminal one, and that "Kuo has been officially listed as a defendant in this case." Prosecutors are unable to publicly comment on their investigation, Chen said.
"As for former Hsinchu City Mayor Tsai Jen-chien (
It has been speculated that Tsai, Chu's former boyfriend, could have been involved in the taping because he has a key to Chu's apartment.
Prosecutors said that because Chu's and Kuo's testimonies differed in many aspects, they will summon the two again for further questioning.
On Monday, prosecutors led a task force to examine Chu's residence in a search for more clues. The preliminary investigation found that the VCD must have been shot from inside a TV cupboard opposite Chu's bed in her bedroom.
A police search with an infrared detector failed to locate a camera inside the room. Police took fingerprints from the bedroom for further investigation.
Yesterday afternoon, Taipei prosecutors questioned employees at a repair shop where Chu had taken the TV cupboard in her bedroom to be repaired.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
‘INDISCRIMINATE’: The drastic changes would delay many national projects as well as undermine global confidence in Taiwan’s resolve to defend itself, the premier said The Legislative Yuan yesterday on third reading passed the central government budget for this year, cutting 6.6 percent from the Executive Yuan’s proposed expenditure — the largest in history. The budget proposal, which the Cabinet approved in August last year, set government spending at NT$3.1325 trillion (US$95.6 billion), with projected revenues of NT$3.1534 trillion — both record highs — working out to a surplus of NT$20.9 billion. On Friday last week, the opposition-led legislature voted to cut NT$93.98 billion from the budget’s general provisions. During a 20-hour continuous session from Monday until yesterday morning, they continued to slash the budgets of government agencies,
RSS