Mayor Accused of Lying About Canceled Presidential Order for Charity Gifts

Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen's claim that the President's Office "abandoned an order" for Mid-Autumn Festival gift boxes and that her city would take it over has drawn sharp criticism from lawyer Huang Ti-ying. Huang accused Lu of fabricating the story, likening her actions to an arsonist impersonating a firefighter.

The controversy stems from the legislative branch's decision to freeze the budget for the President's Office's discretionary funds. This freeze impacted an existing order for 15,000 boxes of Mid-Autumn Festival gifts from 37 sheltered workshops. These workshops provide employment for individuals with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups.

Huang Ti-ying stated on Facebook that lawmakers from the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) "ruthlessly froze and deleted" the budget that supported vulnerable groups. He argued that Lu's claim of the President's Office abandoning the order was false and intended to distract from the legislative action. Huang pointed out that the public's subsequent efforts to purchase the gift boxes were an act of goodwill to mitigate the damage caused by the budget cuts, not a response to a canceled order.

"The arsonist not only returned to the scene of the disaster but also impersonated a firefighter," Huang wrote, criticizing Lu's statement. He accused KMT legislator Weng Hsiao-ling of "arrogantly abusing power" by proposing the budget cut, which he said trampled on the empathy of the Taiwanese people. Huang emphasized that the public's support for the sheltered workshops was a humanitarian effort to counteract the legislative "disaster" created by the KMT's actions.