TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A high-profile tech industry magnate has thrown his weight behind efforts to remove a controversial lawmaker from office in northern Taiwan. Robert Tsao (曹興誠), the billionaire founder of semiconductor giant United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), on Wednesday (May 14) appeared alongside Chen Qingyi (陳青逸), who leads the recall campaign against Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨) Legislator Lin Peixiang (林沛祥) in the port city of Keelung (基隆). Campaign organizers face an imminent deadline, needing 6,000 additional signatures within seven days to trigger an official recall vote.
The recall effort gained momentum after Lin reportedly dismissed campaign organizers as "marginalized people," a characterization that Chen said has angered similar citizen-led accountability movements across Taiwan. At the press conference, Chen argued that the campaign transcends local politics, stressing that decisions made by legislators in Taiwan's national parliament impact citizens throughout the island, thereby legitimizing broader public involvement in the effort to remove Lin from office.
The campaign has sparked controversy after a Kuomintang city councilor, Chan Chiang-chun, alleged that Tsao was paying volunteers NT$2,000 (approximately US$66) each to participate in signature collection efforts. Tsao forcefully rejected these claims during the press event, announcing he would consult his attorneys about potential legal action against what he characterized as defamatory accusations that not only targeted him personally but also impugned the motives of legitimate campaign volunteers.
Concluding the press conference, Chen issued a passionate appeal for public support, highlighting what he described as Lin's inadequate legislative record in the Legislative Yuan (立法院), Taiwan's parliament. The campaign leader emphasized that the success of their democratic accountability effort would ultimately depend on citizens across Taiwan joining forces with Keelung residents to reach the required signature threshold before their rapidly approaching deadline. ◼