TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former KMT official Ting Yu (丁瑀) on Monday called on Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to apologize for attending a pro-unification event commemorating the 228 Massacre that paid tribute to a former KMT military officer later identified as a Chinese Communist Party spy.

Ting said Cheng’s attendance at the event was an “insult to the nation and to the soldiers who died fighting against the CCP,” per Tai Sounds. He accused Cheng of showing misplaced priorities by refusing to meet a distant relative of Dr. Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) while taking an hour to honor a communist spy.

Cheng explicitly called Wu Shih a spy and said he was different from the political prisoners who suffered during that time. She stressed that the ceremony was intended to remember victims of the White Terror era, people imprisoned for their political beliefs.

Ting warned that Cheng’s actions could harm the KMT’s election prospects. He noted that Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), widely seen as the party’s likely candidate for Kaohsiung mayor, had already faced criticism over the controversy.

Some party members pushed back against Ting’s remarks. Taoyuan City Councilor Chan Chiang-tsun (詹江村) urged the KMT to expel Ting, arguing that he chose the “worst possible way” to offer advice to the chair, per NOWnews. Former KMT Central Committee member Li Tzu-yu (黎子渝) also accused Ting of sowing division within the party, per Liberty Times.

In response, Ting said Li’s criticism made him appear sympathetic to the DPP.

Meanwhile, former Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) joined the criticism of Cheng, saying a longtime KMT supporter had called him to complain about her behavior at length, per Storm Media.