Taiwan accuses Hong Kong residents of hiring 4 people to spy on lawmaker critical of China

Four people were charged after allegedly surveilling a Taiwanese lawmaker and his family two years ago, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Taipei prosecutors alleged that two people in Hong Kong hired the four Taiwanese defendants to follow, film and photograph Puma Shen, who is a member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and an outspoken critic of China.

The defendants have been charged with offences under the Personal Data Protection Act after they “illegally collected and utilised the personal data” of Shen, his wife and daughter, thereby “causing harm” to them, prosecutors said in a media statement.

China opened an investigation into Shen in October 2025 for alleged criminal “separatist activities”, a year after barring him from entering the country.

Warrants issued

Prosecutors allege that three of the accused placed a tiny camera in the seat of a motorbike and parked it in front of Shen’s family home in Taipei.

They said the defendants collected images of Shen, his wife and their daughter as they entered and exited the residence between October 1 and November 8, 2024.

The images were sent via the messaging app Telegram to the people in Hong Kong, the statement said.

The two people in Hong Kong paid one of the defendants the equivalent of US$12,700 (HK$99,669) to carry out the surveillance, it said.

Arrest warrants were issued for the Hong Kong pair.

Shen, who is running for Taipei mayor in local elections scheduled for November 28, did not comment immediately on the case.

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Dateline:

Taipei, Taiwan

Type of Story: News Service

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