TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — DPP Legislator Wu Szu-yao (吳思瑤) on Saturday criticized KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) for attending a 228 Massacre commemoration hosted by a pro-unification organization.
Wu condemned Cheng’s presence at the event, noting that it included a tribute to Wu Shih (吳石), a former high-ranking KMT military officer who was later revealed to be a spy for the Chinese Communist Party, per Newtalk. Wu said honoring Wu Shih insults the soldiers who fought to defend the nation from the CCP.
Cheng responded that she did not know beforehand that the event would include Wu Shih, as the organizers had assured her the commemoration would not focus on him, per UDN. She stressed that the ceremony was intended to remember victims of the White Terror era, people imprisoned for their political beliefs.
Cheng also explicitly called Wu Shih a spy and said he was different from the political prisoners who suffered during that time. When asked about the CCP-related songs performed during the ceremony, Cheng said she understood their historical context and defended freedom of expression, arguing that Taiwanese society must protect individuals from persecution over political views.
Despite the organizers’ denials, Wu Shih’s portrait was displayed at the venue, per UP Media. In addition, the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League (台灣民主自治同盟), a political party under the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front, paid tribute to the victims immediately after Cheng’s speech.
The Mainland Affairs Council criticized Cheng’s participation, calling it disrespectful to those who fought and died resisting the CCP, per Mirror Media. Former KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) also denounced Cheng, saying it was inappropriate for her to attend an event commemorating figures who sought to overthrow the KMT government, per Liberty Times. Tsai added that he had never seen the CCP honor KMT operatives executed in China.
Former KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) urged Cheng to act more prudently as party chair, remarking that her political stance appears even more overtly pro-unification than that of former KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), per UDN.
