KMT attacks Pan Meng-an over shelter-workshop order dispute, saying extra purchases fall far short of Cheng Li-wen's

The Kuomintang says it has bought nearly 13,000 Mid-Autumn gift boxes worth NT$5.1 million, as a dispute over orders from sheltered workshops escalates into a political fight.

The controversy began after two sheltered workshops in southern Taiwan reportedly accused the KMT of asking whether they could take an order for 300 gift boxes, then failing to place it. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Meng-an and Lai Jui-lung, the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for Kaohsiung mayor, subsequently said they would purchase boxes.

Chen Yi-hsin, the KMT's director of communications, said party chair Cheng Li-wen had already expanded the purchases. He said the party originally took 9,780 boxes from 20 of 37 workshops affected by an order cancellation from the Presidential Office, then bought nearly 3,000 more from other sheltered workshops.

The total, Chen said, had reached nearly 13,000 boxes worth NT$5.1 million, with deliveries due to begin the following week. He said the KMT welcomed efforts to support disadvantaged people through purchases from sheltered workshops, but argued that the Presidential Office's cancellation had caused the wider controversy.

Chen called on the dispute to end and criticized any further political use of the issue. He said supporting sheltered workshops was worthwhile, but further political maneuvering would reflect bad faith and fail to carry the effort through properly.

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You are both the god and the devil, you canceled the order, and your additional purchases are still far fewer than Cheng Li-wen's.