During his speech, Fan Zhenzong gestured as if to slap Cheng Liwen, sparking a political controversy.

Yesterday, during a speech at an event, former Hsinchu County magistrate Fan Zhenzong suddenly launched a scathing attack on Liwen Cheng, not only criticizing the Kuomintang's strategic missteps that led to the collapse of the Blue-White alliance, but also directly naming Cheng, stating: "If you fail in the Hsinchu County election, you are solely responsible—there is no one else to blame; you are the biggest culprit." When the two were campaigning together for Hsu Hsin-ying, Fan even gestured as if to slap Cheng. However, after the speech ended, Fan and Cheng leaned in close to talk, and then again dramatically mimicked slapping Cheng. Onlookers quickly stepped in to stop it, but Cheng remained unfazed, smiling throughout.

Responding to this incident, Wang Wan-yu, chairperson of Taiwan's "Taiwan People's Party," stated outright that her political views differ drastically from Cheng's. Nevertheless, the video footage of Fan pretending to slap Cheng made her deeply uncomfortable. She found it utterly unacceptable for a male politician to publicly treat a female party leader in such a manner.

Wang emphasized that if one disagrees with Cheng, they can argue with her, debate her publicly, or criticize her openly—but physical violence is absolutely out of the question. The Blue-White alliance has already been messy enough; there's no need to resort to violence to prove how low one's standards have fallen. Regardless of what Fan originally intended to convey, that gesture crossed a clear line. Elections should not descend to the point where even basic decency is abandoned.

A Kuomintang representative said that Cheng and Fan have known each other since their days in the DPP, sharing a long-standing friendship and having always interacted this way, so Cheng truly doesn't care. During a phone interview with an electronic media outlet on the evening of the 3rd, Fan explained: "I'm doing this for your own good—when you're truly concerned about someone, how can you not speak frankly?" Meanwhile, Hsu Hsin-ying revealed that she later reached out to Cheng to express her thoughts, to which Cheng responded: "I'm completely unfazed."

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1875361326529536/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.