Taiwan Politics Review – Legislative Yuan again challenges the EY

Significant developments over the past month: Ko Wen-je indicted, Legislative Yuan fighting amid passage of three controversial laws, bullying incidents in government agencies, and more…

By Ross Darrell Feingold

Core Pacific City / Ko Wen-je investigation
On 26 December 2024, the Taipei District Prosecutors concluded their investigation into the Core Pacific City land redevelopment case (see Taiwan Politics Review, 11 December 2024) by issuing indictments, including the  indictment of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the former presidential candidate and Taipei City mayor. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 28.5 years for Ko, including 15 years for bribery, five years and six years for separate cases of embezzlement, and two-and-a-half years for breach of public trust.

Ten other suspects were also indicted, including former Taipei Deputy Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) (Chinese Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT) – Zhong Zheng – Wanhua Constituency), Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), finance chief of Ko's 2024 election campaign; and Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), founder and chairman of the real estate conglomerate Core Pacific Group. Prosecutors have accused Ying of receiving NT$47 million from Shen in return for Ying pressuring relevant decisionmakers in the Taipei City government to approve a floor area ratio increase for the redevelopment of the Core Pacific City shopping mall into an office complex. Prosecutors issued a summary of the charges against the defendants (available in Mandarin).

Following the indictment, the TPP held a press conference (available in English via simultaneous translation and in Mandarin).

The Central News Agency published an English language timeline of the investigation.

On 27 December 2024 after the indictment was issued, the District Court allowed Ko to post NT$30,000,000 in bail though prohibited Ko from leaving Taiwan. Prosecutors subsequently appealed, and on Sunday, 29 December 2024, the High Court (the intermediate appellate court in Taiwan’s three-tiered court system) agreed to prosecutor’s request for a re-hearing on the bail given to several suspects, including Ko, and returned the matter to the District Court for further review. The District Court subsequently increased Ko’s bail amount to NT$70,000,000 and required Ko to wear an electronic ankle bracelet. Prosecutors again appealed to the High Court, which again ordered the District Court to reconsider whether to give Ko bail. Finally, on 2 January 2025, the District Court revoked Ko’s bail. During Ko’s brief time not in jail, on 1 January 2025 he resigned as TPP chairman, with Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (At-Large) succeeding Ko as interim chairman (the TPP subsequently announced that an election for party chairman will be held on 15 February 2025).

On 10 January 2025, Ko filed an appeal against the revocation of bail, which the High Court rejected on 11 January 2025.

On 15 January 2025, Taipei City officials said a letter was received from Core Pacific Development Corp. stating its willingness to place a pause on the controversial 20% increase in authorized floor space it obtained for the project.

Analysis: It appears that the District Court and High Court judges have vastly different views about the need to hold a suspect in custody after an indictment is issued. In many judicial systems, at this point bail would be offered to a suspected white collar criminal even if significant conditions are attached such as a large cash amount, submitting passports to the court, requiring that the suspect wears an electronic ankle bracelet, and prohibiting the suspect from having any contact with other suspects or with witnesses (as the District Court ordered in Ko’s case). The High Court’s view appears to be that Ko might still be able to use his influence with other suspects or witnesses to affect future testimony.

Periodically on their respective X accounts, the TPP and Ko Wen-je (while he was out of jail) have posted in English about the case. TPP acting chairman Huang accused the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) (whose chairman is President William Lai Ching-te (賴清德) of “green authoritarianism” and said that the party is undermining Taiwan’s judicial freedom by using the court as a political tool. On 3 January 2025 the TPP posted in English “We urge President Lai to restore judicial justice and democracy in Taiwan!”, as part of promoting a rally the TPP held on 11 January 2025. The TPP claimed in a post on X that 150,000 attended the rally, though a speaker at the rally claimed a total of 200,000 when online viewers are included. DPP Legislative Yuan Caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) (At-Large) called the rally “ridiculous”.

As for the future of the TPP without Ko as chairman, this all depends on the ultimate result of the judicial process. Should Ko be exonerated, it is likely that he would return as TPP chairman. Even if Ko is exonerated but does not return as chairman, he is still likely to run again as the TPP candidate for president in the 2028 election. However, if Ko is convicted (or prosecutors successfully appeal a not guilty verdict), the future of the TPP will be very much in doubt without Ko or a party chairman who similarly has Ko’s ability to generate support for a “third force” in Taiwan politics.

Politicians in trouble with the law
On 19 December 2024, former Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) (DPP) who served as vice premier from 31 January 2023, to 20 May 2024, during Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) second term as president and was earlier the first mayor of the newly established Taoyuan City special municipality from 2014 to 2022, attended a hearing at the start of his trial on corruption charges (see Taiwan Politics Review, 16 July 2024). Cheng denied the charges of receiving cash from the developer of an industrial zone. According to the prosecutors' indictment, the former head of an industrial zone planning committee in Linkou District, Liao Chun-sung (廖俊松), visited Cheng's official residence and deposited a black bag containing NT$5 million (US$152,945) in cash on 14 September 2017. Cheng claimed he was not in the room when Liao deposited the bag and only found it the next day, that he then repeatedly asked Liao to take the bag back, but Liao did not come to retrieve it. Cheng further alleged that he returned the bag to Liao’s son. Cheng was formally indicted and released on bail of NT$28 million in August, at the time (pending the bail amount for Ko Wen-je, see above) media reported it was “the highest bail given to a political figure in recent years”.

On 31 December 2024, incumbent Yilan County Magistrate Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) (KMT) was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison on corruption charges in a case stemming from a property transaction. Lin was convicted of seeking illegal gains through her supervisory role as a public official, money laundering, and, having unaccounted-for assets as a public official. The court also ordered the seizure of NT$32.5 million from Lin which was inconsistent with her income and could not be accounted for. The KMT vowed to "fully support" Lin as she appealed the verdict to "defend her innocence”.

On 2 January 2025, the corruption conviction for now suspended Hsinchu City Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) was referred to the Constitutional Court to adjudicate whether the law that was the basis of her conviction constitutionally applies to legislators. Kao was convicted on 26 July 2024 (see Taiwan Politics Review, 20 August 2024 and sentenced on 21 August 2024 (see Taiwan Politics Review, 18 September 2024) for the misuse of staff salary during her tenure as a legislator between 2020 and 2022 before she elected mayor in the 2022 local election.

Analysis: The overlapping timing of developments Cheng Wen-tsan’s case and Ko Wen-je’s case resulted in comparisons being made between the two. In Cheng’s case, the passing of cash as an attempted bribe is already established notwithstanding that Cheng claims in court he returned the money. In Ko’s case, prosecutors have yet to (at least publicly) establish that cash was passed to Ko. Another point of comparison is that Cheng received bail but (after several rounds of back and forth between the District Court and High Court), Ko was denied bail.

Chaotic week at the Legislative Yuan ends with three controversial laws passed
Mid to late December at the Legislative Yuan was notable for multiple days of physical altercations and the passage of controversial amendments to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (sometimes translated as the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法)) (unamended law is available in English and Mandarin), the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) (unamended law is available in English and Mandarin), and the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) (unamended law is available in English and Mandarin).

On 16 December 2024, draft amendments to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act passed the preliminary review stage at the Internal Administration Committee after committee convener Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩) (KMT - Hsinchu County 1st Constituency) called the meeting to order at 09:00, conducted a quick vote with DPP legislators outside the room, and announced the conclusion of the meeting at 09:03. Before the meeting started, KMT legislators had gathered outside the chamber, blocking one side of the hallway with chairs and sealing the door with tape. They used their bodies to block the other side. The amendments include a provision that "a recall vote must have more votes than the official received when elected”; under the original law, a recall proposal is approved if the number of votes supporting the recall exceeds the number of votes opposing it. In addition, the number of supporting votes must be at least one-quarter of the total number of voters in the electoral district. In other words, the revisions would raise the bar for a successful recall to occur. The DPP issued a press release titled “Condemning KMT's Destruction of Democracy and Implementation of Parliamentary Martial Law” (available in English and Mandarin). A KMT press release accused the DPP of causing mischief, disrupting the legislature, and engaging in shameful and incompetent behaviour (available in Mandarin).

On 20 December 2024 amid physical altercations (including a storming of the Legislative Yuan chamber by DPP legislators the previous night), the revised three laws passed the Legislative Yuan. Protestors outside the Legislative Yuan who oppose the revisions clashed with police.

The revisions to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act requires individuals initiating a recall petition and those who sign up to such an initiative to provide photocopies of their identification cards (the requirement that the number of votes in favour of ousting an elected official would have to exceed the votes the official got when originally elected for the recall to pass, were not addressed because of a month waiting period before it can be put to a vote on the floor of the Legislative Yuan).

The revisions to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act mandates a minimum of 10 justices to hear a case and stipulates that an unconstitutional ruling by the court be backed by at least nine justices; the law prior to this revision does specify a minimum number of justices required to hear a case. Instead, it mandates the presence of at least two-thirds of all sitting justices, with a ruling determined by a simple majority vote. The Constitutional Court normally has 15 justices but currently only has eight because the eight-year terms of seven of the justices ended on 31 October 2024 and the Legislative Yuan rejected President Lai’s nominees (see below).

The revisions to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures changes how funds collected by the central government are allocated between the central government and local governments. Under the law prior to the revisions, the central government is allocated 75 percent of the country's total tax or other revenue, while local governments are given 25 percent. The revisions allow local governments to take 60% with only 40% for the central government (which was the allocation prior to the most recent change to the allocation which occurred in 1999). On 7 January 2025 an aide to a KMT legislator published a defense of the revised act (available in English).

On 21 December 2024, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that the cabinet would take action to counter the three revisions which he described as "difficult to implement". The cabinet subsequently warned that the revenue allocation changes would entail a “complete overhaul” of the 2025 central government budget, which the Legislative Yuan has yet to approve.

Also on 21 December 2024, the DPP issued a press release titled “KMT-TPP's "Political Chaos Trio of Laws" destroy constitution and cause political chaos” (available in English and Mandarin).

On 2 January 2025, Executive Yuan said it will submit an official request to the Legislative Yuan for a new vote on the revisions to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act. The reconsideration vote was held on 10 January 2025 with all KMT and TPP legislators voting once again to approve the revisions.

At a press conference on 4 January 2025, DPP legislative caucus convenor Ker called for the mass removal (by recall) of the KMT’s 39 legislators who represent constituencies, as well as the two independent legislators who typically vote with the KMT (the KMT also has 13 legislators-at-large; legislators-at-large are not subject to the recall provisions in the Public Officials Election and Recall Act). The KMT responded on Facebook by congratulating Ker for being the “10,000 year caucus convenor” (Ker has held the position since 2000) and KMT legislators vowed retaliatory recall attempts against DPP legislators should Ker proceed with his proposal

Analysis: In addition to reducing the percentage of government revenue allocated to the central government, KMT and TPP legislators are also seeking to reduce the central government budget by NT$93.98 billion (many of the proposed reductions are in the public messaging budgets of various agencies, i.e., purchasing advertisements to announce what a good job the agencies are doing).

The Executive Yuan would probably prefer to seek a Constitutional Court review of the three laws, but the outlook for adjudication at the Constitutional Court is unclear given the unfilled openings on the court (see below). The physical altercations are regrettable but all too common when contentious bills are discussed or voted on.

Xi Jinping, Lai Ching-te dueling new year’s speeches
On 31 December 2024, China’s President Xi Jinping (習近平) delivered his usual new year’s address (available in English and Mandarin). With regard to Taiwan, Xi said “We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same family. No one can ever sever the bond of kinship between us, and no one can ever stop China's reunification, a trend of the times.” An English language program on China’s CGTN television network analyzed Xi’s speech.

On 1 January 2025, President Lai delivered his new year’s address (available in English and Mandarin). With regard to China, Lai noted the “convergence of authoritarian regimes including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran”, “Taiwan has significantly increased its investments in the US, Japan, Europe, and the New Southbound countries, and such investment has already surpassed investment in China” and that “No matter the threat or challenge Taiwan may face, democracy is Taiwan’s only path forward. We will not turn back.” Lai also noted that Taiwan must combat “cognitive warfare, so that the populace rejects threats and enticements and jointly guards against malicious infiltration by external forces.”

Subsequently on new year’s day, Lai held a press conference. Lai called China the "real barrier" to cross-strait exchanges and urged China to hold talks with Taipei to ease tourism restrictions. Lai said "If China is genuinely sincere, I suggest that the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and the Association for Tourism Exchange across the Taiwan Straits begin negotiations”. Separately, Lai proposed to meet Legislative Yuan Speaker Daniel Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) over coffee in order to overcome partisan differences.

Analysis: Taiwan’s president typically makes a major speech on new year’s day and on national day (10 October, also known as “Double Ten”). Often these speeches refer to China-Taiwan relations. While journalists or scholars might carefully review the speech text (or the president’s comments at the press conference) to discover new proposals for China-Taiwan relations, the reality is that no single speech (or comment at a press conference) leads to significant changes in China-Taiwan relations.

Legislative Yuan rejects seven Judicial Yuan nominees
On 24 December 2024, the Legislative Yuan rejected all seven nominees to the Judicial Yuan (i.e., the Constitutional Court) proposed by President Lai (biographies of the nominees and current justices is available in Mandarin). None of the seven nominees, including law professor Chang Wen-chen (張文貞) and former lawmaker Yao Li-ming (姚立明) (who served as the director of Lai's presidential campaign headquarters in the 2024 presidential election), who were proposed to be the president and vice president of the Judicial Yuan, received the necessary 57 votes in the 113-seat Legislature Yuan to be approved.

All 52 KMT lawmakers (plus the two independents who usually vote with the KMT) voted against all seven of the nominees. The KMT legislators based their decision on a refusal to approve nominees who it deemed partisan, and also because it objects to the recent Constitutional Court death penalty ruling that raised the bar for issuing death sentences (see Taiwan Politics Review, 30 October 2024).

The TPP joined with the KMT to vote down six of the seven nominees but voted in favour of Liu Ching-yi (劉靜怡), a National Taiwan University professor.

DPP legislators voted in favour of six out of the seven nominees. In an unusual rejection of a nomination proposed by President Lai, DPP legislators voted against Liu after media publicised her past negative comments about the DPP. Liu had claimed in the past that both former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) are corrupt.

Analysis: With the recent revisions to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act, a minimum of 10 justices is necessary to hear a case. Thus, the practical effect of the Legislative Yuan rejection of the nominees is that the Constitutional Court cannot hear or decide on cases. Although the description “constitutional crisis” should not be used lightly, a frozen Constitutional Court might in fact be one.

Poll shows President Lai’s rating recovers
A Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) poll published on 17 December 2024 revealed that 65.2% of respondents approved of President Lai’s recent overseas trip in the furtherance of foreign relations, and only 17.9% did not approve. In good news for Lai, 35.3% of respondents disapproved of Lai, and 51.3% approved, up significantly from the prior month when 43% of respondents disapproved of Lai, and 42.8% approved.

In further good news for the Lai Administration, Premier Choi’s cabinet was rated satisfactory by 47.3%, and unsatisfactory by only 34.8%.

In bad news for the Lai Administration, 40.5% of respondents said replacement Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) (see Taiwan Politics Review, 19 December 2024) is not an appropriate choice for the job, and only 33.4% said he is appropriate. Also bad for the DPP, 63.5% of respondents said it was a mistake for the DPP legislative caucus to post on its Threads account a statement affirming South Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of martial law (see Taiwan Politics Review, 11 December 2024), and only 9.5% said it was the right thing to do.

On a more contentious issue, the legalisation of surrogacy, 49.0% approved, and 41.1% did not approve.

The TPOF periodically publishes English summaries of its polls; sign up via an email request.

Analysis: Diplomacy is good for a president; Lai’s travel to Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau (three countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the Republic of China) with transit stops in Hawaii and Guam, has resulted in a positive movement in the public’s approval of Lai. A visit by Lai in 2025 to the Caribbean and South America is likely, with transit stops in major American cities.

Regulators reject Uber Eats acquisition of foodpanda’s Taiwan business
On 25 December 2024, the Fair Trade Commission rejected Uber’s proposed acquisition of foodpanda’s Taiwan business. Uber had offered US$930 million to acquire the business, though per the joint statement issued by the parties on 13 May 2024, the transaction was subject to regulatory approval. An insurmountable hurdle for the parties was the Ministry of Labor’s opposition to the merger, previously publicly stated by then Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊). The Ministry of Labor opposed the deal unless the delivery platforms and the National Delivery Industrial Union reached a consensus regarding the union’s demands about pay and workers' rights. Separately, the FTC was concerned that post-merger, the combined firm would have a market share that exceeds 90%.

Analysis: An overview of the requirements for private mergers and acquisitions in Taiwan notes that “regulatory approval process may sometimes take a long time”. However, the regulators appear to have moved quickly in this case, perhaps because the delivery workers union is a constituency politicians are sensitive to, and the vast numbers of consumers who utilise Uber Eats or foodpanda.

Government proposes another park/valley
On 3 January 2025, President Lai said the government is aiming to turn the southern region of Taiwan into a hub for artificial intelligence (AI) development and expand its applications in various sectors," that “will transform southern Taiwan into a hub for AI development and applications based on Taiwan's advantage in semiconductor and machinery manufacturing”. Lai was referring to the "Southern Taiwan Silicon Valley Program” announced by the Executive Yuan on 2 January 2025.

At this early date, it is unclear what impact the “Southern Taiwan Silicon Valley Program” will have on existing programs such as the Asian Silicon Valley plan (a project that commenced in President Tsai’s first year in office and is now in its phase 3.0) or the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City in Tainan or the recently announced Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli Great Silicon Valley Plan.

Analysis: Recent governments have all proposed their version of “zones” for manufacturing or other economic activity; the Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli Great Silicon Valley Plan was only announced last year, and now the government plans another silicon valley in southern Taiwan. For additional discussion about the plethora of plans/zones in Taiwan see Taiwan Politics Review, 30 October 2024

Ongoing fallout over bullying incidents in government agencies
On 11 December 2024, a second investigation into the suicide of a Ministry of Labor (MOL) civil servant found evidence of workplace bullying (see Taiwan Politics Review, 11 December 2024), Labor Minister Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said. Hung told a news conference that former Workforce Development Agency New Taipei Office head Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容) had assigned "impossible tasks" and employed a "highly inappropriate management style" with the deceased 39-year-old civil servant.

On 13 December 2024, the central government launched an online platform for civil servants to file complaints about workplace bullying, which the Central News Agency described as the governments “latest attempt to quell the anger sparked by recent reports of bullying”.

On 20 December 2024, after a performance review committee meeting found her to have engaged in bullying, a former head of the department of personnel at the Ministry of Justice and the government's top statistics agency lost her job.

Responding to a private sector incident that received much media coverage, on 24 December 2024 non-government organisation the Taiwan Alliance for Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare wrote on its Facebook page that "Teenagers often face high risks in the labour environment during the job search or when they first start working because of their age, experience and skills," and that it is "extremely difficult" for young workers to seek help when faced with sexual assault or sexual harassment due to "unequal power relations" in the workplace. The post followed the suicide of a 17-year old former McDonald's employee after she was coerced into sex by her supervisor over a year-long period, per a social media post authored by the girl's mother. According to media reports, McDonalds issued a statement that it " deeply regrets the unfortunate death of the former employee and will fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies in their investigation", though the statement is not posted to the news section of McDonalds Taiwan’s website. On 25 December 2024, the Taipei City Department of Labor ordered (press release available in Mandarin) McDonald's to pay a fine of NT$1 million for violating the Gender Equality in Employment Act (available in English and Mandarin) in its handling of the matter. On 29 December 2024, several high schools issued public apologies after their male students posted misogynistic content on social media about the incident.

Subsequently, on 2 January 2025 media reported that McDonalds issued another press release (available on its website in Mandarin and dated 27 December 2024) in which McDonalds apologised and said "In this incident, we failed to take preventative action before it happened, and the handling was not timely nor comprehensive enough”.

Analysis: The author reiterates the recommendation that industry should review workplace bullying rules and complaint handling procedures to ensure they are consistent with, or exceed, Taiwan best practices. In light of the incident at McDonalds, this review should also cover accusations of workplace sexual harassment as well.

President Lai visits military facilities
We previously noted that President Lai has recently had an active schedule of interactions with Taiwan’s military (see Taiwan Politics Review, 18 September 2024). In recent weeks Lai again had a similarly active schedule of related interactions. Lai visited an army base on 3 January 2025, visited an air force base on 27 December 2024, and visited an army base on 27 December 2024. In addition, Lai attended the graduation ceremony of a new class of Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau officers on 7 January 2025 where he said the officers should protect national security and maintain societal order, Lai convened a meeting of the Presidential Office's Whole of Society Defense and Resilience Committee on 26 December 2024, visited a natural disaster preparedness exercise on 24 December 2024.

Separately, on 15 January 2025, the Ministry of National Defense said it has proposed pay raises for volunteer enlistees amid reports of a fourfold increase in military personnel opting out of their contracts early.

Analysis: This most recent round of military and resilience activities by President Lai came amid Chinese military activity around Taiwan during December, and weapons sales announcements by the outgoing Biden Administration (see below). The Ministry of National Defense reciprocated Lai’s support for the military by issuing a press release stating that under the revised Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (see above), the national defense budget would be reduced by 28%.

The increase in volunteers (i.e., those who made the military a career, as distinguished from soldiers performing mandatory national service) who separate from the military is a significant issue for the Ministry of National Defense and each branch of the military. In a war, these professional soldiers (again, as distinguished from those performing mandatory national service) will be posted to the front lines to fight the invaders, and national service troops (or those who earlier did national service and are recalled in the event of an emergency) are expected to serve in support roles.