Taiwan opposition questions ruling party's 'double standards' over reporter incident

The campaign office for New Taipei City mayoral candidate Lee Chih-han has sharply criticized Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an for his reaction to a reporter's question. Pan Men-an, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), reportedly waved his arm to fend off a female reporter who was questioning him about the "Zhonglian cancerous oil case" and an upcoming political rally.

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Hitting the media when you're unhappy.

Kuo Yin-lan, spokesperson for Lee's campaign, condemned the incident, likening Pan's actions to "hitting the media when you're unhappy." She drew parallels to past behavior attributed to former Premier Su Tseng-chang, accusing the DPP of arrogance and a double standard in how they treat the media and public concerns.

Kuo highlighted a series of recent incidents involving DPP officials, including remarks by spokesperson Wu Cheng-en and comments by legislator Lin Ping-yu, to illustrate what she described as the party's "deep-seated arrogance." She contrasted this with the DPP's claims of standing with the people, arguing that Pan's physical reaction to a reporter representing the "fourth estate" is a "great irony" for a party that champions democracy and progress.

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The DPP's behavior, from spokesperson Wu Cheng-en's cold remark 'It's not like I forced you to eat it' and legislator Lin Ping-yu mocking people 'marching as if their parents died,' to Pan Men-an's rough attitude of elbowing the media, fully demonstrates the DPP's arrogance from top to bottom.

The campaign also questioned the DPP's response to the "cancerous oil" incident, which has been ongoing for 20 days. They pointed to a past Facebook post by Su Tseng-chang condemning the act of shirking responsibility as "idiotic." Lee's campaign urged DPP legislator Su Chiao-ching to apologize for Pan's behavior and to directly address public questions about food safety, stating that failure to do so would make her an unqualified candidate for legislator and mayor.

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Facing a major storm concerning food safety, 12 years ago Su Tseng-chang posted on Facebook, pointing out that shirking responsibility is 'idiotic!' However, 20 days after the cancerous oil incident broke out, Su Chiao-ching has always faced it with a passive attitude of 'avoiding answering when asked,' which is a complete double standard.