Two men from Hong Kong hired private investigators in Taiwan to keep Puma Shen (沈伯洋), now the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate for Taipei mayor, and his wife and daughter under round the clock surveillance for 39 days, using a hidden camera tucked under the seat of a motorcycle parked outside their home, prosecutors said on October 7.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted four people on charges of illegally collecting and using personal data by a non-government entity under Taiwan's Personal Data Protection Act. They are Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永津), who runs the Weixin (微信) and Quanlian (全聯) private investigation agencies; Hsieh Yi-chen (謝乙辰), head of Da Ai International (大愛國際) private investigation agency and a company called Sirius (天狼星); and two of Hsieh's employees, Chiang Wen-hsin (江文鑫) and Hou Kai-han (侯凱瀚). Prosecutors asked the court to sentence Cheng to 18 months in prison and issued wanted notices for the two Hong Kong men who allegedly ordered the job, Ju Juexian (鞠覺賢) and Lin Qing (林慶), who have fled Taiwan, Central News Agency reported.
The investigation began after Shen, then a legislator, reported the surveillance to the police precinct in Taipei's Daan District, and was led by the Taipei prosecutors. Shen had earlier gone public about being watched, revealing that a pinhole camera had been found on a motorcycle parked outside his front door.
How The Surveillance Job Was Commissioned
According to prosecutors, at about 5:15 p.m. on September 5, 2024, Ju and Lin commissioned Cheng to follow Shen. The same day Ju wired HK$99,950.09, worth about NT$360,000, to Cheng's account as payment.
Because neither of Cheng's two agencies had staff who actually carried out surveillance, he subcontracted the job to Hsieh for NT$180,000. Hsieh assigned Chiang and Hou, along with others, to the task, and prosecutors asked for the NT$180,000 to be confiscated, United Daily News reported.
From Tailing To A Hidden Camera
The first approach did not go well. Chiang began tailing Shen in September 2024, but Shen had a bodyguard, surnamed Lan, who stayed by his side and watched constantly for anyone following him. When Cheng complained to Hsieh that Chiang's work was falling short, Ju and Lin grew deeply dissatisfied, and on September 27, 2024, the two Hong Kong men flew into Taiwan to see how the job was going.
To give Cheng something to show his clients, Hsieh suggested switching to recording equipment, and the two agreed. Chiang had a company employee park a motorcycle in the parking space in front of Shen's home in Daan District, then installed a miniature camera under its seat with the lens pointed at the front door.
39 Days Of Round The Clock Monitoring
Chiang linked the camera to an app on his phone, allowing the investigators to monitor the family's comings and goings 24 hours a day from October 1 to November 8, 2024, prosecutors said. Chiang and Hou also drove a private car to the house to watch Shen, and at times his wife and daughter, as they came and went.
Images captured by the hidden camera or by phone were sent through the messaging app Telegram to a group that included Cheng, who then forwarded them to Ju, also via Telegram.
The surveillance overlapped with a move by Beijing on October 14, 2024, to list Shen as a "diehard Taiwan independence" figure subject to punishment.
What Prosecutors Said About Foreign Hostile Forces
Prosecutors said Cheng, as a professional investigator, knew that hostile foreign forces have in recent years suppressed the speech of Taiwanese politicians and other targeted individuals and gathered information about their social activities. He also knew, they said, that these forces have never renounced the use of force against Taiwan, so any leak of a Taiwanese citizen's activities or personal data to them could become a potential future threat.
Instead, prosecutors said, Cheng acted purely for personal gain, ignoring the suppression and persecution that hostile foreign forces have inflicted on Taiwanese people. By accepting a large payment from Ju to monitor Shen and collect information on his activities for hostile foreign forces, Cheng had in effect cooperated with those forces in harming a Taiwanese citizen, they said.
Prosecutors said Cheng repeatedly gave evasive answers under questioning. Although he eventually said he was willing to plead guilty, his statements showed no genuine remorse, and only a heavy sentence would deter him, they argued, in recommending 18 months in prison.
By contrast, Hsieh, Chiang and Hou admitted the offenses after they were caught, acknowledged that they had seriously violated Shen's privacy, expressed remorse, and said they hoped to apologize to Shen and ask for his forgiveness. Prosecutors noted that Chiang and Hou were employees following instructions, not the instigators, and asked the court to impose appropriate sentences on the three.
How Shen And His Party Responded
Shen said the investigation showed that hostile foreign forces had commissioned a Taiwanese company to watch him, and that the clients had specifically asked for his daughter to be filmed, China Times reported. He said the clients were unhappy with the results and even came to Taiwan in person to supervise the work. Shen also hit back at Kuomintang (KMT) politicians and online commentators who had mocked his earlier claims of being watched as "persecution paranoia," saying they had been proven wrong.
The DPP said it respects the judicial investigation, adding that this was not the first case of China targeting specific politicians through transnational repression carried out with the help of local collaborators. The party condemned the surveillance and urged the relevant agencies to stay on high alert to protect people's personal freedom and safety.
Why The Case Matters
Shen, a vocal critic of Beijing, has been targeted by Chinese authorities, who have placed him on a wanted list. Concerns about his personal safety have followed him into the Taipei mayoral race, and he wore a bulletproof vest during a trip to Japan last month. Prosecutors did not publicly identify who was ultimately behind the two Hong Kong men or how the footage was used.
