Taipei prosecutors yesterday summoned former Hsinchu Bureau of Cultural Affairs chief Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳) to attend a hearing with prosecutors this afternoon at the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office.
"Chu has been requested to attend the hearing as a plaintiff," said Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), the spokesman of the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office. "Tuesday's meeting between Chu and prosecutors will focus on questions surrounding her charges against Scoop Weekly (獨家報導)."
Last month Scoop distributed a VCD which purported to show Chu having sex with a married man.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Chu has refused to confirm or deny that she was the woman in the VCD, even when interviewed by TV host Hu Chung-hsing (胡忠信) last week.
On Dec. 31, the 36-year-old former politician, formally filed libel charges against 19 people. Among those charged are employees of the tabloid-style magazine, including its president, Shen Yeh (沈野), and its publisher, Shen Jung (沈嶸) as well as Chung-ti Technology, the company which produced the VCD.
Chu's recent public comments have, however, helped the investigations into the scandal and her charges against the magazine, Chen said.
"Before she decided to face everybody," he said, "prosecutors had to worry about her safety and privacy when they interviewed her or contacted her for questions because we didn't want to hurt her again. We cannot ignore her during the investigation, however, since she is at the center of the scandal. It has been difficult to strike the right balance. Since she has become mentally stronger, however, and willing to face the world, prosecutors' jobs have become a lot easier."
A source, who wished to remain anonymous, said that Taipei Chief Prosecutor Lin Jinn-tsun (
Neither Chu's office nor that of her lawyer was receiving telephone calls yesterday.
Lin told the Taipei Times: "We handed the summons to her lawyer but I cannot tell you which prosecutor issued the summons, which room in the building the hearing will be held in or whether Chu has received the summons or not."
When asked last week if she was the woman in the video, Chu said: "It's very possible that it's me. It really did look like me. But I am not sure whether the VCD is a fake or not. What I can say is that the hidden camera was not installed by me. Nor did I arrange for it to be installed."
* The 40-minute VCD was issued with "Scoop Weekly" magazine in mid-December. The video shows a woman looking very similar to Chu having sex with a man resembling Tseng Chung-min, a married businesman.
* Chu still refuses to confirm or deny whether in fact it is her in the VCD.
* Kuo Yu-ling , Chu's "spiritual growth" instructor and her former friend, is the chief suspect in the case after she admitted installing the film-making equipment in Chu's apartment.
* Kuo's daughter, Kao Chun-chun, is suspected of passing the original videotape to "Scoop."
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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