TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A chaotic scene unfolded at Taiwan's Legislative Yuan on Monday (March 18) as legislators from the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) faced off in an intense confrontation over a child abuse case.
Recent news of a one-year-old boy from New Taipei City being fatally abused by his nanny drew nationwide concern, leading to the invitation of Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan to give a special report to the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee within the Legislative Yuan.
Tensions flared when DPP lawmaker Huang Hsiou-fang questioned the impartiality of committee chair Alicia Wang, a Kuomintang legislator who also served as a director of the Children's League at the time of the child abuse case. Huang suggested that Wang should be removed from her role, alleging a conflict of interest.
Wang defended herself, saying she had resigned from her Children's League position the previous week. She countered Huang's allegations, saying the conversation should be focused on societal safety nets, not committee persons, and accused the DPP of attempting to skew the issue. After her objections were overruled, DPP legislator Rosalia Wu rushed towards the podium, only to be forcefully held back by Kuomintang legislator Jessica Chen.
The altercation ended with the intervention of senior party figures Fu Kun-chi of the Kuomintang and Ker Chien-ming of the DPP, enabling Hsueh to commence his report at 9:52 a.m.
The fracas is the latest in a long history of legislative disputes in the Republic of China, although physical altercations have considerably lessened in recent years. Despite the confrontational nature of such scenes, some lawmakers see them as a method to attract media attention.