DPP Legislator Assaulted by Boyfriend Triggers In-Fighting Among DPP Cyber-Warriors, Resignation of Presidential Policy Advisor
Summary Report by Taiwan Weekly
News on November 30 of Legislator Kao Chia-yu of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) abused by her boyfriend sent shock waves across Taiwan. In a press conference, Legislator Kao accused her boyfriend of assaulting her and restricting her personal freedom and displayed photos of her body injuries. Soon after her boyfriend Lin was arrested and taken into custody and held incommunicado, a group of internet ghostwriters started to make postings on social media attempting to change public opinion, causing ruptures between different DPP factions. Since Mr. Lin is well-connected in DPP political circle, Chairman Jan Hung-Tze of PChome, suddenly resigned on December 5 as national policy advisor to the President because he had lobbied Mirror Media on Mr. Lin’s behalf.
Ms. Kao is 41, elected legislator early last year after serving as Taipei City councilor for many years. She graduated from the Department of Law, National Taiwan University, and is trenchant in questioning officials. She gained wide popularity after appearing repeatedly on political commentary shows on television.
During the press conference on December 1, Legislator Kao recalled her boyfriend’s assault in a hotel room on the night of November 11 and broke down in tears several times. She alleged that Mr. Lin beat her continually and dragged her by her hair from around 10 PM until dawn. Her mouth was full of blood and her face was swollen as a result of the beating and she was scared of her life. Mr. Lin even took her cellphone to send posts, transfer files and threatened and intimidated her in many ways. The media revealed the photos she took after checking into hospital confirming the seriousness of her injury.
According to Legislator Kao, she met Mr. Lin during the election campaign last year. Lin approached her and offered to provide suggestions. They became close after six months. But two or three months into their relationship, Kao discovered that Lin was easy to lose temper and would threaten her and even force her to kneel. According to Legislator Kao, Mr. Lin claimed to know a lot of people in political, academic and business circles. Lin even claimed he’s been working with the national security unit and had good connections with prosecutors and investigators. Many people believed what he said and were fooled by him.
Right after the public became aware of the physical abuse case, Taiwan’s biggest social media PTT suddenly posted a breaking news article exposing the behind-the-scenes tidbits trying to clarify some negative comments on Mr. Lin. The account named “CrazyWinnie” that made two postings of this kind was later discovered to belong to Li Po-chang, a member of the web brigade nicknamed “Taiwan Independence Machine Gun.” It was further discovered that the posting was sponsored by a DPP heavyweight in Tainan.
Former Vice President Annette Lu condemned and demanded the DPP to explain to the public. Lu said on Facebook on December 3 that the offender is actually a “web gangster” and a member of the DPP web brigades. The DPP “should have a set of rules governing its web brigades and explain to the public responsibly”.
Legislator Kao’s ex-boyfriend close to 20 years Ma Wen-yu came out in her defense and criticized Mr. Lin for socializing with many DPP political figures and legislators and secretly taped their conversations and later blackmailed them for their cooperation.
It is reported that many DPP political figures attended or sent flowers to the funeral of Lin’s mother on November 24. Former Legislator Tuan Yi-kang, a factional heavyweight within the DPP, stood at first row during the memorial service and later exerted pressure to Mirror Media at the request of Lin.
The abuse case of Legislator Kao incidentally pulled out situations in which the DPP web brigades and political and business figures gave unwarranted pressure to the media. The spokesperson of the Office of the President stated that many people have been fooled by the suspect.
Director Ling Tao of the Culture and Communications Committee, Kuomintang (KMT), questioned the “many being fooled” statement on December 5 and said who would believe that a bunch of national policy advisors, business leaders and DPP faction leaders were fooled by a 43-year-old “young man” and even attended his mother’s memorial service and lobbied the media on his behalf. Mr. Lin was seen in photos with Vice President William Lai and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, the public demands to know the intricate relations behind the scenes between Lin and the DPP web brigades.
Mr. Ling indicated that the first person involved in lobbying the press and scrutinized by public opinion Jan Hung-Tze has resigned from public office, which confirmed the intervention of political and business high figures in the media. There are definitely more puzzles need to be solved. President Tsai Ing-wen, who concurrently serves as chairwoman of the DPP, should stop hiding behind the spokespeople of the Office of the President or political commentators on her side. She should squarely face the social trust crisis created by the DPP web brigades that are attacking each other and spinning out of control.