Although he has had conversations with many strangers in Internet chat rooms, accusations that he visited pornographic Web sites and visited hostess bars are totally unfounded, Olympic taekwondo gold medalist Chu Mu-yen (
Chu held a media briefing yesterday to discuss his claim that he had paid a total of NT$1.1 million (US$35,335) to a group of criminals who had repeatedly threatened him and his family.
Chu, who has a girlfriend, said the gang also threatened to make public claims that he was having a relationship with a woman he had met on the Internet.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
He was accompanied to the news conference yesterday by his senior teammate and Olympic silver medalist Huang Chih-hsiung (
"I often log on to Internet chat rooms to talk with my fans, my friends and whoever is interested in taekwondo, and I am the Web master of a Web site on Yahoo Kimo as well," Chu said.
"However, I have never been to any hostess bars or logged on to any pornographic Web sites, as I have been accused of doing. I believe that the police will figure that out and clear my name," he said.
Huang also defended the gold medalist's character.
"Chu was too stupid. He believed in strangers too easily. What can I say? I hope that this case will not damage his career and that he will be able to concentrate on his job -- participating in more taekwondo matches and winning more medals for Taiwan," Huang said.
The case came to light on May 8, when Chu reported to police that somebody was threatening him and his family, and that he had already paid them NT$1.1 million.
As the police investigation continued, more and more rumors surfaced, such as that Chu had a fondness for pornographic Web sites and had struck up conversations with a "cam girl" nicknamed "Cher."
According to some claims in the local media, "Cher" was a member of a crime ring, which used recordings of their "steamy" conversations to blackmail Chu.
Meanwhile, a recording of a phone conversation said to be between Chu and "Cher" was broadcast by local TV and radio stations a few days ago. Voice analysis confirmed that the male speaker in the recording was Chu, although the conversation can hardly be described as "steamy."
Chu yesterday admitted that it was his voice.
"I had already wired approximately NT$1 million to these people by the time I recorded that conversation. I was merely trying to collect more evidence for the police by recording that conversation," Chu said.
According to the statement Chu made to police, he had wired money to the extortionists on several occasions.
He said yesterday that he had been forced to keep paying, as the criminals had continued to threaten to kill his entire family if he did not cooperate.
"I also tried to simply hang up the phone. But they also warned me not to do that," Chu said. "They said, `Your family will die in accidents if you dare to hang up on me.'"
In response to a question about why he would spend his time on the Internet chatting with girls like "Cher" when he has a girlfriend, Chu said that "Cher" is only one of his Internet pals and that he does not even know who she really is.
"I am planning to devote myself to preparing for the 2008 Olympic games while the police take care of the case," Chu said.
Police last Friday arrested nine people suspected of having blackmailed Chu. Investigators said that they were members of a cross-strait criminal ring that has cheated and threatened countless victims out of large amounts of money.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS