KMT’s Mid-Autumn gift-box pledge falls through, drawing sharp criticism from Wang Ting-yu

A promised order for 300 Mid-Autumn gift boxes from a sheltered workshop in Hengchun fell through, prompting Taiwan’s Presidential Office secretary-general to step in and buy the boxes himself.

The Manman Hengchun sheltered workshop said the Kuomintang had asked whether it could handle 300 boxes. After the workshop agreed, however, the order did not arrive. Staff later learned by phone that the purchase had been put on hold.

The episode followed KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s earlier claim that the party had fully ordered gift boxes from the sheltered workshops originally selected by the Presidential Office. The KMT had also publicly said it would take on orders for 9,780 boxes after budget cuts affected sheltered workshops.

Pan Men-an, who comes from Hengchun, said he immediately contacted his older brother, Pan Fang-chuan, after learning that the workshop had lost the order. The two decided to pay for all 300 boxes themselves and donate them to social welfare organisations.

Legislator Wang Ting-yu mocked the KMT on Facebook, writing, “The Chinese Nationalist Party can even turn crisis management into a crisis. This is truly an excellence that is hard to surpass.” He also accused the KMT and its allies of cutting budgets that support sheltered workshops for disadvantaged people.

The KMT said the workshop was not among the 37 facilities listed in the Presidential Office’s procurement announcement. The party described the contact as a misunderstanding but said it was willing to add the purchase. Party figures also said the KMT would continue buying products from sheltered workshops, although it had not ordered from all of the nearly 170 such facilities in Taiwan.

“

The Chinese Nationalist Party can even turn crisis management into a crisis. This is truly an excellence that is hard to surpass.