KMT Rallies Around Her, DPP Says Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling Owes Taiwan Five Apologies

The Kuomintang has rushed to cover the orders after legislator Weng Hsiao-ling proposed cutting the Presidential Office's budget for Mid-Autumn Festival gift boxes purchased from sheltered workshops. The controversy centers on orders from 37 workshops serving people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups.

Kuomintang caucus leader Fu Kun-chi eventually appeared and bowed in apology. The Democratic Progressive Party said he still distorted the issue by describing it as the Presidential Office abandoning its order, although he acknowledged that excessive cuts to the overall budget had harmed disadvantaged people.

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The main culprit, Weng Hsiao-ling, has she apologized? No.

The DPP said Weng still owed Taiwan five apologies. It accused her first of using budget cuts as political retaliation that harmed disadvantaged people. It also accused her of trampling culture by cutting the Culture Ministry's media budget, funds for the National Culture and Arts Foundation, and budgets for Public Television Service and Taiwan Plus. The party said she had mocked related spending as “Bluebird feed,” showing contempt for film, television and cultural workers.

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I am Chinese.

The remaining accusations concerned alleged lawbreaking, confusion over national loyalties and what the DPP called bullying behavior. The party cited reports that Weng, a law professor and legislator, cut in line at a cinema and was involved in recording images inside a screening room. It also pointed to her statement “I am Chinese” alongside a proposal to reduce sentences for soldiers who defect to China, and accused her of improperly amending the Constitutional Court Procedure Act in a way that threatened constitutional operations and the Constitutional Court.

“Weng Hsiao-ling, Taiwan is waiting for your apology,” the DPP said, arguing that she had harmed vulnerable people, insulted culture, broken the law and damaged democratic checks and balances while remaining unwilling to apologize.

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Weng Hsiao-ling, Taiwan is waiting for your apology.