Commentator Apologizes After Mocking Politician's Gaming Spending Angers 'Whales'

A Taiwanese politician's past remarks about spending over $3,000 annually on mobile games have ignited a political firestorm. The politician, Shen Po-yang, is facing intense scrutiny from opposition parties who accuse him of hypocrisy, citing his recent election loan of $60,000 against his reported savings of only $180,000.

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Shen Po-yang playing games and spending money on top-ups

Critics unearthed a video from late last year where Shen discussed his habit of spending "over $3,000 a year" on mobile games, labeling him a "whale" and questioning his claims of financial strain. This fueled accusations that he was feigning poverty to garner sympathy during his mayoral campaign.

In response, Shen explained that the "over $3,000 a year" figure was a monthly average, not an annual total, and insisted the election loan was for campaign expenses, not gaming. He defended spending on hobbies as a way to balance personal life, provided family needs are met.

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I am one to speak frankly, I don't need to speak for Black Bear, but if we assume spending over $200,000 a year, that's actually quite normal for people around me.

The controversy took a turn when commentator Hsieh Han-ping heavily criticized Shen on his YouTube channel, boasting about his own frugality as a "free-to-play" gamer. However, Hsieh was quickly rebuked by his own viewers, many of whom revealed they spent significantly more on mobile games, some exceeding $30,000 annually. Faced with this backlash, Hsieh apologized, admitting he was unaware of the prevalence and scale of in-game spending in Taiwan.

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I didn't know that spending money on mobile games is such a common phenomenon in Taiwan.

The incident quickly spread across social media, with netizens mocking Hsieh and highlighting the commonality of substantial in-game spending. Many pointed out that Shen's spending was relatively modest compared to dedicated "whales" in popular games, with some jokingly contrasting mobile game spending with the alleged "land spending" of the KMT party.

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He might not know that DingDian spent tens of millions.