A Tapei prosecutors' task force investigating the release of a VCD allegedly showing a former city councillor having sex has deemed it a criminal case.
"We decided this was a criminal case and we will invite investigators from the Bureau of Investigation to join us beginning next week," said Lin Jinn-tsun (
The VCD, released with the latest edition of Scoop Weekly (
According to investigators, an anonymous tip received by the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office alleged that the person who shot the bedroom scene with a pinhole camera is a close female friend of Chu, surnamed Kuo (郭).
A twisted tale
Sources say that Kuo is an instructor at a spiritual growth organization, Avatar, and that Kuo was teacher for a class that Chu enrolled in there.
"Prosecutor Lu Hsiao-yuan (
Prosecutors suspect the student and teacher may have been involved in a romantic or financial dispute, and will summon Kuo for questioning to clarify her role.
But when Hsinchu City Mayor Tsai Jen-chien (蔡仁堅), previously Chu's boyfriend, was informed that Kuo might be a suspect in the case, he panned the rumor, saying that he believed Kuo to be incapable of such an act.
His statement, however, appears to be at odds with statements made earlier by Chu, who claimed several days ago that besides herself, only Tsai and Kuo have keys to her apartment, where the video was secretly taped.
Further, Chu reported to the police that she had received a number of threatening messages on her mobile phone before the Scoop Weekly issue and accompanying VCD went on sale. Police later discovered that these phone calls were made from a location near Tsai's residence.
The police are now seeking to clarify the relationship between Tsai, Kuo and Chu.
In related news, investigations by police and media outlets have reportedly prompted several of those involved in the case to seek protection from gangsters, an unnamed police source revealed yesterday morning.
The source said, however, that their requests have been turned down.
Further, the officer said, some people involved in the case have contradicted themselves in public statements and that investigators are confident that a breakthrough in the case will be made over the next few days.
Avatar, where Kuo is an instructor, has been in existence for 20 years and was introduced to Taiwan from the US around four years ago.
"The Avatar course is a series of experiential exercises that enables you to rediscover yourself and align your consciousness with what you want to achieve. You will experience your own unique insights and revelations," according to a Web page published by Star's Edge Internationale -- Avatar's parent company.
A criminal case
The case has been coded "chen" (
After the raids on Scoop Weekly magazine's five printing plants in Taipei County on Wednesday, prosecutors said that when the magazine gave away the VCDs, it may have violated Article 235 of the Criminal Code, which makes the distribution or sale of indecent material illegal.
The prosecutors said the magazine may also have violated Article 315-2, which makes the violation of a person's privacy for profit illegal. Chu and Tseng were filmed using a pinhole camera at her apartment.
"Scoop Weekly did not send the VCD to the Government Information Office (GIO,
"Also, they knew that the VCD allegedly depicts a sexual encounter between the former New Party Taipei city councilor Chu Mei-feng and her married lover Tseng Chung-ming before they distributed the magazines and VCDs. But they still sold the magazines and gave away the VCDs."
"If Kuo refuses to be interviewed, we will probably ask for a warrant and arrest her for further investigation if necessary," the prosecutor said.
Su Tzen-ping (
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
‘MISGUIDED EDICT’: Two US representatives warned that Somalia’s passport move could result in severe retaliatory consequences and urged it to reverse its decision Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has ordered that a special project be launched to counter China’s “legal warfare” distorting UN Resolution 2758, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday cited UN Resolution 2758 and Mogadishu’s compliance with the “one China” principle as it banned people from entering or transiting in the African nation using Taiwanese passports or other Taiwanese travel documents. The International Air Transport Association’s system shows that Taiwanese passport holders cannot enter Somalia or transit there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested the move and warned Taiwanese against traveling to Somalia or Somaliland
RSS