Taipei: Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) announced it has filed a criminal complaint against a former reporter, Hsieh Hsing-en, for breach of trust and other offenses. This action follows a Taiwanese media report linking her to a politically motivated paparazzi group allegedly organized by Taiwan People's Party (TPP) leader Huang Kuo-chang.
According to Focus Taiwan, CNA has also decided to pursue a civil lawsuit against Hsieh, citing damage to the agency's reputation. Hsieh resigned on Monday, but subsequent media revelations suggested her involvement in politicized paparazzi activities. She allegedly published stories under the pseudonym Hsiao Yi-yi, potentially breaching journalistic ethics and CNA's regulations.
The Taiwan Alliance for Self-Regulation of Online News (TASON) released a statement urging CNA to thoroughly investigate the situation and publish its findings. TASON emphasized the importance of upholding journalism ethics, especially for CNA, which receives significant funding from Taiwan's Ministry of Culture. The group warned that any violations involving political figures and financial arrangements could severely damage media professionalism.
TASON also called on RW News, which published reports allegedly sourced from the paparazzi group, to clarify its connection with Huang and the Taiwan Anti-corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association (TAWPA). TASON stressed that media should avoid becoming tools for political agendas.
These developments come after a report by the Taiwanese news website Mirror Daily alleged that Huang organized a paparazzi group in 2022 to follow and photograph political opponents. The report claimed that former reporters, experienced in surveillance, were part of the group. Their first major case reportedly targeted Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung in November 2022.
The report also alleged that the group received funding through Kai-ssu International, a private company, and that employees of this company were involved in trailing DPP legislator Wang Yi-chuan. Following the report, CNA suspended Hsieh from reporting duties and reassigned her to other work while launching an internal ethics investigation.
On Tuesday, Huang addressed the allegations for the first time, accusing Mirror Daily of "smearing the opposition on behalf of the ruling party" during a TPP press conference. He defended Hsieh, expressing disbelief at the accusations and described Mirror Daily as "Taiwan's biggest paparazzi group." Huang declined to directly address whether TAWPA had financially supported individuals involved in the alleged group.