Taiwan President Apologizes Twice in Week for #MeToo Allegations

2023-06-07 14:45

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen apologized for a second time in a week over sexual harassment allegations involving the

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen apologized for a second time in a week over sexual harassment allegations involving the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, after one of her policy advisers resigned following accusations being made against him.

“As the President and former DPP chair, I’d like to apologize to the public again with the development of sexual harassment incidents by former party workers,” Tsai, Taiwan’s first female president, said in her Facebook post late Tuesday. “We’ve also seen such cases are everywhere, not only in the DPP or other political parties, but also in workplaces of society and neighborhoods.”

READ MORE: Taiwan’s DPP Apologizes in #MeToo Case as Tsai Backs Probe

The allegations come at an inopportune time for the DPP, with just over half a year before Taiwanese voters are set to elect a new president. It has been hard, though, for Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang Party to capitalize because harassment accusations against two of its lawmakers have also been in the news recently.

Yan Chih-fa, Tsai’s national policy adviser, resigned Tuesday after a former worker at an organization supporting Tsai accused him of sexual harassment, according to the Central News Agency, Taiwan’s national news service. Yan, who has denied the allegations, has vowed to cooperate in an investigation to clear his name, CNA reported, citing a statement from him.

In addition to the apology, Tsai said in her Facebook post that she had also asked Premier Chen Chien-jen to enact a broad reform plan for the government, including a review of and amendments to current gender equality rules, and the establishment of guidelines to handle sexual harassment complaints. Tsai will finish her second and final four-year term next May.

Recent polls have shown the DPP’s candidate to replace her - Lai Ching-te - leading the KMT’s candidate Hou Yu-ih.

The KMT has had to deal with #MeToo allegations as well. That includes accusations made against lawmaker Fu Kun-chi, who was former Hualien County chief. He has denied the allegations by a former reporter who accused him of sexual harassment in 2014, CNA reported Sunday.

Separately, on June 6, the Taipei District Court upheld a verdict against KMT lawmaker Chen Hsueh-sheng, finding him liable for sexually harassing DPP lawmaker Fan Yun during a physical altercation in 2020, according to the Taipei Times.