Suspected sex on beach stirs Taiwan police

TAIPEI: A suspected beach orgy involving 21 adults, most of them over 40, has shocked a quiet village on the palm-studded coast of south Taiwan, sparked massive media coverage and now a police investigation.   

Officers in Taitung County are investigating the weekend party involving residents of the port city of Kaohsiung who took over a private inn and went running naked outdoors, county police bureau spokesman Wu Chung-hui said on Thursday.   

Amid complaints from conservative neighbours in the village of Hsing-chang, Taiwan newspapers ran photos and articles about the event, suggesting the possibility of all sorts of activity including masturbation and oral sex.   

Wu said the media reports prompted an investigation.   

"According to our customs here, it's hard to accept," Wu said.

"We're still investigating whether it was legal or not."   

Taiwan people pride themselves on conservative Chinese morals.   

Smaller naked parties had been spotted in Taitung before, Wu said, but nothing like this.   

The investigation has been tough because all participants, including nine women and almost everyone over 40, registered under false names at the inn, Wu said.   

They disbanded on Sunday and had not scheduled any further events, he said.