Former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) office yesterday criticized law enforcement agencies for conducting long-term surveillance operations on elected representatives, urging the administration to stop such practices in the run-up to the planned visit of China’s top cross-strait negotiator next month.

In a statement, the office said Huang Kuo-chan (黃國展), a Tainan City Police Department captain, confessed during a court hearing on Aug. 5 this year that part of his job was to gather intelligence on Tainan City Councilor Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).