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2012 ELECTIONS: DPP
says leaked papers prove its claims of spying
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday provided what it called
evidence that proves illegal monitoring was undertaken by the intelligence
apparatus, saying spying on DPP officials began as early as March last year
during the party’s presidential primary.
For the second time in three days, the party disclosed documents it said were
leaked by anonymous sources at the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau to
back the party’s claim that DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is
being monitored by the bureau.
The Chinese-language Next Magazine reported on Wednesday last week that National
Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Hu Wei-chen (胡為真) had asked the bureau
in May to deploy 28 agents to monitor Tsai and that Hu had submitted to
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) information detailing Tsai’s campaign schedule,
meetings, contacts and the possible number of votes at stake.
The DPP has received an internal bureau document, dated March 21, that details
the contacts, conversations and locations of Tsai and former premier Su Tseng-cheng
(蘇貞昌), DPP spokesperson Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) told a press conference.
Tsai and Su were competing for the DPP presidential nomination in the party’s
primary at the time.
The NSC and the bureau deny engaging in illegal monitoring, with the bureau
saying it only gathered information to ensure the protection of the presidential
candidates. Ma claims he was unaware of the practice.
On Monday, the DPP cited documents purportedly provided by a whistleblower at
the bureau that it claimed confirmed the existence of a project codenamed the
“An-Ping-Shun Project,” to monitor Tsai and People First Party (PFP)
presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜). The source also told the DPP that
Investigation Bureau Director Chang Ji-ping (張濟平) had ordered all the documents
related to the project to be destroyed, a claim Chang has denied.
None of the information in the documents was related to the personal safety of
the candidates, DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said, adding that the bureau
would have to explain why it began monitoring Tsai before she won the DPP’s
presidential nomination.
“If the bureau began monitoring Ma’s potential opponents in his re-election bid,
I would say this practice is even worse than the Watergate scandal,” Chen said.
Chang is not the only official who needs to offer an explanation as to what went
on, as Hu still has to answer as to whether he ordered the bureau to carry out
the operation and Ma has to confirm or deny whether he read the reports, Chen
said.
The bureau is not authorized to gather intelligence on the DPP’s primary, which
means the practice was illegal, DPP lawyer Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said, adding that
the party would collect new evidence before filing new charges against Chang and
Hu.
The DPP filed charges against Hu and Chang at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office
Special Investigation Division on Tuesday over corruption and the violation of
six laws, among them the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall
Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法), the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法) and the
Public Servants’ Administrative Neutrality Act (公務人員行政中立法).
In response, the bureau said that according to the Presidential and Vice
Presidential Election and Recall Act, it has a duty to investigate whether
vote-buying and coercion occurs during party primaries and that as such, it was
legal for the bureau to monitor the DPP’s primary.
The bureau said it arrested and charged several people on suspicion of
vote-buying for a DPP New Taipei City (新北市) council candidate during the
primaries.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesperson Lai Su-ju (賴素如) said it was regular
practice for the bureau to collect information on presidential candidates to
prevent accidents during the campaign and she urged the DPP to stop
“manipulating” the issue.
“The DPP should go back eight years, when it was in power, and check whether the
bureau also collected information at that time,” she said.
Insisting that the bureau collected information on Tsai’s campaign schedule
because of security concerns, Lai said the Presidential Office and the NSC had
already clarified the matter.
“When you smear people ... it is your responsibility to back up your claims with
solid evidence,” she said.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang and Mo Yan-chih
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