TAIPEI (Taipei News) — In an act of political theater on Tuesday morning (June 1), Taiwanese translator of “Lord of the Rings” and radio host Lucifer Chu (朱學恆) delivered funeral flowers to Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control.

That morning, four flower baskets of a kind seen only at Taiwanese funerals were delivered to the Centers for Disease Control and promptly taken away by the police. The gift was intended to convey Chu’s personal dissatisfaction with the government’s policies amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to his Facebook post, the radio host claims officials are not doing enough in his view. “You can fool yourself, but you can’t fool God,” he wrote.

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said on Facebook he learned of the stunt only after the daily pandemic meeting at the Executive Yuan. He condemned Chu's behavior, calling it "inappropriate." He added that "Cursing those who work hard is not as kind and nice as a Taiwanese should be."

When asked for his response to the matter at the daily pandemic press conference, Central Epidemic Command Center head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) did not answer at first. After being asked again, he said, “Everyone is busy now. Just do the right thing.”

Along with the flower baskets, Chu sent a 16-word inscription from the Later Shu Kingdom (五代後蜀), with a message to the effect that while corrupt officials may take advantage of the people, sooner or later they will be punished by God.