Police found a suspicious telephone wire near Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je’s office on Tuesday night after Ko’s campaign team reported his office had been bugged.
The police said they did not find any listening devices. But a suspicious telephone wire they found on the third floor could have been connected to a recording device. Interior minister Chen Wei-zen said the case would be handled by the police and Chunghwa Telecom.
Ruling Kuomintang mayoral candidate Sean Lien’s campaign manager Tsai Cheng-yuan had just announced the names on Ko’s list of consultants. But that information had not been made public. Ko’s camp suspects that Lien’s camp may have bugged Ko’s office. Tsai is denying the accusations and said he would quit politics if that is proved to be true. Tsai said Ko’s camp has a lot of big mouths that leaked the information:
"They think that Ko Wen-je is bound to win, so they’ve talked to many academics and invited them to be a part of his consultant group," said Tsai. "They’ve invited them and told them they are highly valued and want them to be part of their camp. Of course, there will be some who accept the invitation. But others got goose bumps after listening and told some of the people we knew about it."
Lee Ying-yuan, who is in charge of Ko’s political platform, said there was a wire on the third floor that could connect to the two telephone lines in Ko’s office on the ninth floor. Investigators are looking into fingerprints and DNA evidence. Lee said he would not make any accusations as he is leaving it to the police to investigate. But he regrets seeing this infringement on democracy and privacy.