Sean Chang resigns amid recall data protection scandal

Sean Chang resigns amid recall data protection scandal

2025-04-30

The head of Keelung’s Civil Affairs Department has admitted to using the city’s household registration system to assist two recall campaigns targeting DPP city councilors. Sean Chang was taken in for questioning on Tuesday on suspicion of data protection offense and document forgery, and on Wednesday he was released on bail of NT$400,000. Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang says he respects the judicial procedures, but the DPP has raised questions about how he could have been unaware of Chang’s actions. Let’s hear more.

Tung Tzu-wei
Keelung City Council speaker
I think this is outrageous. It is lawless to a degree unacceptable by the citizens of Keelung. It is the darkest day in the history of Keelung’s democracy.

Chen Ching-yi
Leader of recall against Lin Pei-hsiang
Our volunteers work super hard, collecting signatures one by one. But Sean Chang can abuse government systems to aid other recall campaigns. It’s extremely unfair to us citizens.

Jiho Chang
Keelung City Councilor (DPP)
The entire household registration system in Keelung was accessible to them. Even last year, during the recall campaign against Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang, members of the KMT were able to get personal information about the children of the volunteers in the campaign to threaten them.

Justin Wu
DPP spokesperson
We should also hear the response from KMT Chair Eric Chu. We want to see if he was instructed to do so by higher-ups within the party.

The KMT says it will not discuss the matter, and that the legality of Sean Chang’s actions will be determined by a court. His resignation has been approved by Mayor Hsieh and his position will be temporarily taken over by Chao Ming-hua, the deputy director of the department.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
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#politics #taiwanpolitics #Taiwan #keelung #基隆 #張淵翔

涉洩個資40萬交保! 基隆市民政處長張淵翔"請辭獲准"

2025-04-30

基隆民政處長張淵翔，坦承非法使用戶政系統，協助罷免連署，裁定40萬元交保。市長謝國樑親上火線喊尊重司法，張淵翔也已經請辭獲准。但綠營質疑戶政機關竟然淪政治打手，市長怎可能不知情？

[[基隆市議會議長童子瑋]]
“我想這是一個非常離譜的一個事情，無法無天到這樣子的程度，我想基隆市民沒辦法接受，基隆民主史上最黑暗的一天”

[[基隆絕配罷免林沛祥領銜人陳青逸]]
“我們的志工是這樣，辛辛苦苦的在那邊，一張一張一張的收，張淵翔他竟然可以這樣子，使用國家的機器，這是對我們市民非常不公平的”

[[基隆市議員(民) 張之豪]]
“基隆的整個戶政民政大開，就連在去年罷樑的時候，中國國民黨的黨工，還可以拿拆樑志工小孩子的個資，拿出來威脅人家”

[[民進黨發言人吳崢]]
“國民黨的黨務系統，我們應該也要聽到，國民黨朱立倫主席的回應，有沒有受到來自國民黨高層的指使”

國民黨則回應，不討論個案，張淵翔到底有無不法，就交由法院裁判。基隆市政府表示，張淵翔已於今天向謝國樑提出請辭，並已獲准，民政處長一職將由民政處副處長趙明華暫代。

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After eight months out of the limelight, actor Ethan Ruan made a public appearance Wednesday for a charity event supporting formerly incarcerated youths. But being an award-winning actor, he was bombarded with questions about his private life, which has seen some upheavals in recent years.

The man wearing a white T-shirt is Golden Horse Award-winning actor Ethan Ruan. He’s appearing as the ambassador for a charity supporting formerly incarcerated youth, calling on the public to donate their coins.

Ethan Ruan
Actor
I hope that we can all bring them just that much more luck to the best of our abilities. If they could feel just that little more fortune and care, it may perhaps turn their lives around.

The past three years, Ruan has lost all three of his closest family members: his paternal grandparents and his mother. During the presser, he said that he’s slowly accepting living alone with his three cats.

Ethan Ruan
Actor
It’s been great. A shoot just wrapped up. The sun is out. I can stay at home and play with my cats, enjoy breakfast, and donate some money.

Meanwhile, some fans are saying they noticed he’s gotten even more tattoos, being heavily inked already. He says he’ll try not to get more.

Ethan Ruan
Actor
If something happens that makes me want to get another tattoo, I will. But I’ll try not to get more tattoos in visible areas, because it’s really troublesome for the crew to have to cover them up.

Since last year, 41-year-old Ruan, a lifelong bachelor, was repeatedly spotted with the same girl, leading to speculations that he may finally be settling down. But today he addressed the rumors and said they’re only friends, and that he’s also not looking for anything in particular.

Ethan Ruan
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I’m just going with the flow. If that day comes, great. If I’m going to end up alone, it’s not a problem either.

Ruan remains mum on his private life, perhaps not to take away from the focus of the charity event.

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Taipei government sets up no-smoking reminder at parks

People are often spotted smoking at parks in Taipei, even though it’s illegal. Hoping to solve the problem, the Taipei City Government installed a no-smoking button at Qiangang Park in Shilin District. When pressed, the bell broadcasts a reminder that parks are non-smoking areas. But how effective is this? Without any police around, it’s up to the smoker to stop or not. People have also complained the button is hard to find and the broadcast is too loud.

Lin Yung-chi
FTV reporter
If you see someone smoking when you’re walking in this park, there’s a hidden button you can press that will broadcast a reminder not to smoke.

In both Mandarin and Taiwanese, the broadcast reminds people that parks are non-smoking areas. But people barely seem to look up when they hear it and there are still cigarettes butts littering the ground.

Member of public
No one presses that button. I’ve never seen it.

Member of public
It’s so loud, it can be heard all the way over here. It’s really loud.

Member of public
Someone cut its wire because it’s too loud.

The Taipei City Government installed this no-smoking button at Qiangang Park in Shilin District. During the day, it automatically broadcasts a no-smoking reminder once every hour. If a member of the public presses it, it will broadcast the announcement after 30 seconds, leaving enough time to leave the scene.

Member of public
If I knew about the button, I would press it, but I haven’t seen it.

No one comes to administer fines after the button is pressed, so it’s up to the smoker to stop or not. Over the past six months, it’s only been pressed 170 times. Although no complaints have been received via the city government’s 1999 hotline, city councilors say this doesn’t necessarily mean there are no issues.

Liu Tsai-wei
Taipei City Councilor (KMT)
Pressing it won’t guarantee cigarettes get put out. Pressing it again won’t do so either. It also seems impossible to directly go and administer fines right now. In addition, it’s set up in the corner, so I really don’t know if the button is effective at all.

Lan Shu-fan
Taipei parks director
Its placement is really important, and of course it needs to be clearly marked. In this regard, we can probably make some changes.

The parks department says it will clearly mark it in the future and may even expand the idea to other parks. But whether it will actually stop smokers remains to be seen.

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Tunnel mural merges local Yilan sea life with religious tradition

Wanting to make an attraction themed around the goddess Matsu, a business owner in Yilan’s Nanfang’ao hired the famous street artist Tu Lung to make a 3D mural featuring sea creatures from the coastal town combined with local customs and beliefs. The result is a fanciful world from the bottom of the ocean that envelops you when you step inside.

As soon as they step foot into this tunnel, visitors are greeted by a shark, its gaping maw ready to devour. All around it, fish of all kinds swim by in the deep blue, transporting you to the bottom of the sea.

Matsu, the radiant protector of people who live off the sea, is flanked by her two guards, Qianliyan and Shunfenger, as she stands tall at the end of the tunnel in this stunningly lifelike mural.

A local business owner hired the famous street artist Tu Lung to create this 3D mural using special fluorescent paint. It features sea life found near Nanfang’ao alongside local religious figures, combined to create a mystical underwater scene right here on land. And just nearby the tunnel, there are two Matsu temples.

Lee Chin-lung
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Nanfang’ao’s specialty products include mackerel, swordfish, striped bonito, shark, and mahi-mahi. During SARS, we incorporated local religious customs as well. Since you usually don’t get a chance to take a photo with Matsu up close, our goal was to make a mural of the goddess for pictures.

The name of the mural’s boat shares that of the culture museum, Zhu Dayu祝大漁, in reference to an old custom.

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This magical underwater scene attracts visitors young and old to linger. And when they leave, they can visit two nearby Matsu temples, where they can bask in the sea goddess’s protection and blessing.

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Recall campaign against Hung Meng-kai reaches goal

DPP lawmaker Lin Chun-hsien held a press conference Wednesday to mark the receipt of hundreds of recall petition signatures from overseas supporters. On the final stretch of the campaign, the civic group Taiwan Action has released an emotion-filled video, highlighting a mother’s quiet support for her daughter working on the campaign. Meanwhile, the recall effort against KMT legislator Hung Meng-kai has surpassed 50,000 signatures, reaching its goal ahead of schedule.

DPP Lawmaker Lin Chun-hsien on Wednesday morning held a presser in which recall petitions signed overseas were handed over to campaigners. Joining Lin were a professor and a volunteer working abroad who came to witness the historic moment.

Lin Chun-hsien
Lawmaker (DPP)
Here we have 312 signatures brought in from overseas. Most of these 312 signatures were collected for Wang Hung-wei. She collected the most, at 52.

Lin said that these call to action overseas symbolized the democratic awakening of Taiwanese people around the world. Also on Wednesday, a civic group called Taiwan Action, released the 10th part of a video series about the recalls. This latest installment focuses on the women taking part.

In the video, a mother silently shows her support for her daughter, who is volunteering to collect signatures in the streets of Taiwan. Within one hour since it was posted, it had been watched 15,000 times, and garnered more than 2,000 likes. Recall campaigners are pushing hard in the final stretch to collect signatures. One that’s made significant progress recently is the one against KMT lawmaker Hung Meng-kai, who is a key target of the effort.

Fang Po-hsiang
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I am thrilled and overjoyed to bring good news. We have reached a new milestone in the signature collection for the second part of the campaign. We have more than 50,000 signatures now. I would like to deeply thank everyone who has stood up and offered signatures for this campaign.

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People come up with all kinds of excuses to avoid blame, but nothing could possibly top the following. Recently, a man in Taichung is caught driving a scooter under the influence. While he didn’t deny that he had alcohol in his breath, he claimed that it came from his drunk girlfriend, who had vomited into his mouth. Did the police buy it? Let’s find out.

Officer: You sure you didn’t drink?
Man: No.

A strong alcohol breath odor is coming from this couple riding on a scooter. But still, the driver denies having drank alcohol.

Officer: Blow into it until there’s a sound.

He comes up with an excuse when the police officer’s about to do an alcohol test.

Man: She vomited into my mouth.
Officer: She did what?
Man: Yeah, she forced herself on me.

He says his girlfriend, who’s standing next to him, drank while they were at a nightclub and vomited into his mouth.

Man: I swallowed.
Officer: She puked what? Alcohol?
Man: Yes.
Officer: She puked alcohol into your mouth.
Man: Yeah, vomited booze.

The man insists that his alcohol breath came from the vomit he swallowed, absurd as it sounds.

Commenting on incident
I don’t think the alcohol test value would be so high if that’s true.

Commenting on incident
That can’t be true. Why would anyone swallow puke?

Commenting on incident
No way. Of course he drank. That’s ridiculous.

Officer: Let’s take a look at the test result. 0.24. It’s above limit.

Although his blood alcohol content measured 0.24, just below the value of 0.25 that would make him liable for endangering public safety, the police finds that he had previously drove under the influence of alcohol, and slapped him with a fine of up to NT$90,000.

Wang Kai-cheng
Taichung City Police Department
He claimed that his girlfriend had drunk too much and accidentally vomited alcohol into his mouth. People should not attempt to escape the law, let alone with such a ridiculous excuse to try escape law enforcement.

The police added that it doesn’t matter how the alcohol got into your body. The only thing that counts is the value shown on the breathalyzer.

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