TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), a candidate selected by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) as a legislator at large, led a protest outside the Control Yuan on Thursday (Dec. 28) demanding the Control Yuan investigate Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) over allegations that his childhood home is an illegally-built structure.
The protest was briefly interrupted by members of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), who threw sunflowers at Huang, shouting, “Huang Kuo-chang has betrayed the Sunflower Movement.” TSP Spokeswoman Yang Pei-hua (楊佩樺) and legislative candidate Shi Wei-chu (史惟筑) were asked by police to leave the area, reported UDN.
Sunflowers thrown at Huang while he was speaking. (YouTube screen grab)
In recent weeks, Huang has taken to criticizing the DPP presidential candidate over allegations that his childhood home, which was renovated and expanded in 2003, is an illegal structure, per reports. Critics allege that Lai’s ownership of the property and his unwillingness to properly register or demolish the structure indicate a propensity for corruption.
At Thursday’s protest, Huang said the property should have been declared and registered and then handed over to a trust to deal with the building code violations. To date, Lai has not acknowledged any wrongdoing or that the structure is illegal.
The property in question, located in New Taipei's Wanli District. (CNA photo)
Huang’s protest on Thursday follows a statement by the Control Yuan’s Secretary General Li Tsun-ip (李俊俋) made on Wednesday (Dec. 27). Li said that discrepancies in tax and registration information on the structure may explain why the structure is not properly registered.
On Thursday, Huang claimed the remarks and unwillingness on behalf of the Control Yuan indicate an effort to protect Lai. After the Huang's remarks to the press, a formal letter of complaint was submitted to the Control Yuan Thursday afternoon, with a response expected within seven days.
Huang was a prominent member of the New Power Party (NPP) until November when he announced he would join the TPP, which was formed in 2019 by Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). The NPP was formed in the aftermath of the Sunflower Movement of 2014, when student protestors occupied the Legislative Yuan to protest efforts by the then-ruling Kuomintang to force through a cross-strait services agreement with China.
Early in Huang’s political career with the NPP, he cooperated with the DPP, but in recent years, he has become an outspoken critic of the Tsai administration and the DPP. Many political leaders who were involved in the Sunflower Movement allege that Huang is a political opportunist.
