Taiwanese Lawmaker Curses in Budget Talks, Cites President's Past Profanity
Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi cursed during a legislative budget negotiation, causing the meeting to adjourn.
- Fu later held a press conference playing clips of President Lai Ching-te using profanity in the past, accusing the ruling party of hypocrisy.
- He also criticized the government's handling of a contaminated oil scandal, demanding apologies from the president and premier.
Legislator Fu Kun-chi of the Kuomintang (KMT) party ignited controversy by unleashing profanity during a legislative negotiation over the central government's budget, leading to the meeting's abrupt adjournment. Fu later defended his actions by holding a press conference where he played video clips of President Lai Ching-te using vulgar language during his time as a legislator. Fu accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of hypocrisy and double standards, calling Lai the "original sinner of profanity in the Legislative Yuan" and demanding an apology.
As DPP caucus whip Chuang Jui-hsiung said, this is the DPP's standard. How many curses did President Lai utter in the Legislative Yuan? Please don't have double standards, DPP. President Lai, the original sinner of profanity in the Legislative Yuan, quickly apologize to the entire nation, and let's find Chen Chi-mai to apologize to the people as soon as possible.
Fu also sharply criticized the DPP government's response to a contaminated oil scandal, noting that a month had passed without apologies from President Lai or Premier Cho Jung-tai. He accused the government of disregarding public health and safety, stating that even basic demands for safe food and peaceful growth for children were not being met. Fu characterized the government's attitude as arrogant and dismissive of the public's concerns, a behavior he described as unprecedented in Taiwan's 70-year democratic history.
The DPP government is completely indifferent to the health of the people. A month has passed since the contaminated oil incident erupted, and we have not seen President Lai apologize or Premier Cho Jung-tai step down. This government completely disregards the people, remains unrepentant, and yet speaks grandly in the Legislative Yuan with an arrogant attitude.
Despite his strong words, Fu Kun-chi offered an apology for any offense his remarks may have caused, acknowledging that they had sparked public discussion. However, he reiterated his criticism of the DPP's perceived low standards and demanded that President Lai and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai, who was also implicated in the video clips, apologize to the nation. Fu emphasized the widespread public anger over the contaminated oil issue, suggesting that over 200,000 people had taken to the streets, yet the ruling party remained indifferent.
Even the most basic, humble demands of the Taiwanese people โ to eat safely and securely, and to let their children grow up peacefully in Taiwan โ cannot be met by the DPP. Such rulers speak grandly in the Legislative Yuan and attack legislators with arrogance. This is completely unseen in Taiwan's democratic history over the past 70 years.
Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.