President of Taiwan in Gay Sex Scandal

Taiwan's president allegedly appears in a sex video with a male partner--an American dancer and DJ named Charles Mack.

President Ma Ying-jeou denied that such a video exists, reported the Taipei Times in a Feb. 27 article.
Said Ma, "It's incredible that media outlets allow themselves to be hoodwinked by such a ridiculous story."

Added the president, "It's a groundless rumor, and there's nothing to it."

The article said that the president made his denial on television.

President Ma won last year's election, calling for an end to Taiwan's long-standing strife with China.

But the rumor has a high-ranking pedigree, reported the article, having come from a claim by Ma's predecessor, Chen Shui-bian, who reportedly said in court that a plan to create a sex scandal during last year's presidential elections was derailed by Wu Wen-chung, a Special Investigation Panel Prosecutor who intervened and stopped the video from becoming public knowledge.

According to Chen, the sex video was in the possession of Chang Wei-chin, who is married to Mack. Chang reportedly is friends with Chen, and had intended to make the video public so as to ensure Chen's presidential victory before Wu allegedly stepped in.

The report said that Ma claimed to have heard the rumor during the election and dismissed it then, as well.

Said Ma, "Such a rumor would lower the tone of the presidential campaign."

Added the president, "I feel very sorry that it has been brought up again one year after the election."
The Feb. 25 edition of the Taiwan News said that Chen is in prison due to charges of corruption.

The claims made by Chen regarding the alleged sex video emerged at the start of Chen's trial.

Earlier this month, Mack was ordered to leave Taiwan because of claims that he had unprotected sex with two other men while infected with syphilis.

The story appeared in the Feb. 1 edition of the Taipei Times.

Mack, originally from Memphis, TN, had resided and worked in Taiwan for some time, first as a dancer, then as a radio DJ, and most recently as the operator of a dance company.

Mack's wife told officials last Jan. 16 that he had had sex with two men although he knew that he was carrying syphilis.

Mack refuted that accusation, presenting police three days later with a document saying that he had received treatment for the disease and been cured. His appeal, however, was to no avail.

The article quoted Foreign Affairs Department head for the Taipei police Tony Tsao, who said, "By law, we needed to deport him."