Liberty Times (LT): How will the Investigation Bureau help prosecutors investigate bribery in relation to the nine-in-one local elections?
Leu Wen-jong (呂文忠): We have already done much to advocate against bribery and in terms of intelligence, we have analyzed the electoral districts where bribery is more likely to occur, and assessed which electoral districts and candidates are more likely to bribe voters, listing them as targets for investigation.
In addition, we have deployed 183 investigators to district prosecutors’ offices around the nation, where they are to remain stationed for a month. We will be adjusting these arrangements depending on the atmosphere and the needs of different offices.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
LT: How can the bureau prevent foreign forces from interfering with the local elections?
Leu: If foreign forces were to meddle in the elections, it would affect the fairness of the vote. Intelligence reports show that China is attempting to influence the elections using various methods.
The bureau’s divisions will strengthen their collection of intelligence on such attempts. If the bureau discovers [individuals or groups] who might be involved in such attempts, it will ask the responsible district prosecutors’ office to direct the investigation.
The bureau has obtained some intelligence indicating that Chinese are attempting to interfere with the elections using financial means, primarily by supporting individual candidates
LT: “Fake news” and disinformation can threaten national security. How does the bureau collect reports on such operations and investigate them?
Leu: The Internet has become essential and it is not just Taiwan that is facing the problem of fake news and disinformation — the problem affects countries worldwide. Some of the disinformation affects national security, some of it affects social order, some of it affects people’s reputations.
For the moment, the bureau is focused mainly on disinformation that threatens national security or social order. If we encounter what appears to be fabricated information, once investigators determine it to be fake news and find that its dissemination is criminal in nature, we will move to prosecute the offenders.
If it does not touch upon criminal behavior, but threatens the government’s authority and responsibility, it is still necessary to deal with it. [In such cases] we will hand the case over to relevant authorities so that they can act.
We have personnel systematically collecting and analyzing reports on disinformation posted to Facebook and other social media platforms, as well as [messaging apps] such as Line.
I realize that some people might be concerned that such actions infringe upon the freedom of the press or their freedom of speech. I guarantee that the Investigation Bureau will work strictly within the boundaries of the law.
LT: How does the bureau prevent foreign powers from infiltrating secure institutions and accessing classified information? How does it protect national security?
Leu: Protecting national security is the bureau’s most important mission. Due to the state of cross-strait relations, China employs every measure possible to recruit Taiwanese officials [for espionage] and access national secrets.
Cases pertaining to national security mostly involve communist spies, Taiwanese recruited to collect classified information or Chinese sent to Taiwan to form spy networks.
One good example is the case of Chinese People’s Liberation Army intelligence officer Zhen Xiaojiang (鎮小江) who came to Taiwan to set up such a network. Another is the unsuccessful attempt by [former Chinese student] Zhou Hongxu (周泓旭) to form a cell in Taiwan.
Then there was the case of retired Taiwanese military officer Pien Peng (邊鵬), who was found to be helping the Chinese gather military secrets.
Over the past five years we have handled 52 national security cases involving 115 people.
LT: What are your expectations for bureau staff?
Leu: The bureau has a long and lustrous tradition. It has shown outstanding performance no matter whether it is protecting national security or investigating crime. Of course, the bureau is also facing some new challenges and responsibilities.
Right now, the bureau’s most important job is to investigate election bribery and ensure the fairness of the elections. Second, it is to maintain national security and protect social order. Third, it must preserve procedural justice and ensure law-based governance. Fourth, it must strengthen its partnerships and inspire teamwork; and fifth, it must use technology to improve its innovative services.
I want to create a better work environment for bureau staff, free up more energy for investigations and help the bureau fulfill its role as an institution that belongs to the nation and to the people, is innovative and technologically advanced, and values human rights.
Translated by staff writers Sherry Hsiao and William Hetherington
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RSS