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Excessive wiretapping
should end
By Chang Kuo-tsai 張國財
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has attempted to discredit Legislative Speaker Wang
Jin-pyng (王金平) by trying to force him to resign after claims that he engaged in
improper lobbying surfaced.
Despite the disconcerting feeling resulting from Ma’s direct power struggle, the
role of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID),
which has acted like the notorious Ming Dynasty secret police, is even more
frightening.
As the situation develops, the veil covering the SID’s secret wiretapping is
being lifted bit by bit. There are three reasons why this disgraceful practice
is so vicious:
First, wiretapping is rampant. According to Judicial Yuan statistics, district
courts across the nation issue more than 15,000 “surveillance warrants” per
year. This number is similar to that of the US, has a population about 13.5
times larger than Taiwan’s. Is this a result of the lack of surveillance
equipment and personnel in the US or excessive surveillance practices in Taiwan?
During a recent legislative question-and-answer session, Prosecutor-General
Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) said that the number of telephone wiretaps were about
60,000, 74,000, 92,000, 99,000 and 102,000 for each of the years between 2008
and last year respectively. Since Ma was elected president more than five years
ago, the number of wiretaps has increased by 70 percent. If this is not
excessive wiretapping, then what is?
Second, a number of wiretaps are illegal. The Communication Security and
Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法) states that after an investigation involving
wiretapping ends, the must inform the subject about the practice in a written
notice within seven days, unless the notification could violate the purpose of
an investigation.
The SID claims that it legally wiretapped Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office
Prosecutor Lin Shiow-tao (林秀濤) because of her alleged involvement in the
improper lobbying case between July 13 and Sept. 5. She should have received a
notice about the wiretapping no later than Sept. 12. The problem is that if the
media had not asked her to confirm the wiretapping on Wednesday last week, she
would not have known that she had been under surveillance since she did not
receive a notification. This suggests that the SID did not notify her after the
wiretapping ended. If this is not illegal wiretapping, then what is?
Third, the SID leaked information. Before Lin and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) received a notice from the court about being
wiretapped, the division had already made a big announcement, releasing the
transcripts of wiretapped conversations between Ker and Wang to the media. It
seems that the SID likes to share the progress of its investigation with the
public. If this is not leaking information, then what is?
Wiretapping could maybe be considered a “necessary evil” if used to investigate
criminal and improper activities. However, if the SID wiretaps people in a blind
search for evidence, it must use excuses to cover up its illegal action.
A prosecutor and the DPP caucus whip were wiretapped for a long time. Some
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators even joke about this by asking each
other: “Have you been wiretapped lately?” If this is not a White Terror-era in a
state run by the secret police, then what is?
Chang Kuo-tsai is a former deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Association
of University Professors.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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