TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — TPP New Taipei City councilor candidates Lin Tzu-yu (林子宇) and Chen Yu-chieh (陳語倢) filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the DPP over remarks made in a podcast by the party’s gender equality department.
In a recent episode, political worker Chang Hui-tzu (張慧慈) said physical appearance is often a requirement for women in politics, per Storm Media. Discussing different parties, she said “women in the TPP are presents,” prompting backlash.
Chang suggested the TPP uses women as tokens, reinforcing stereotypes. Earlier in the podcast, political worker Wu I-hsuan (吳奕萱) said female aides are sometimes treated as “transactional gifts” at social events. Department head Lee Yen-jong (李晏榕) added that women can be treated as “transactional commodities” in social interactions.
The TPP rejected the characterization. TPP Legislative Caucus Leader Chen Chih-han (陳智菡) said attributing women’s political success to transactions rather than hard work undermines their agency. Party Chair Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the title of the podcast’s Facebook short video amounted to an attack on female TPP candidates, per Z.Media.
Taipei City Councilor Huang Ching-yin (黃瀞瑩), who was mentioned in the episode, criticized the discussion as questioning the motives of women in politics outside the DPP, per UDN.
TPP Spokesperson Chang Tung (張彤) warned Friday that the party would take legal action if the DPP did not apologize, per Tai Sounds. The DPP dismissed the accusations as a “publicity stunt,” per Liberty Times.
Lin and Chen, both referred to as “gifts” in the podcast, filed the lawsuit Thursday, per Newtalk. Their lawyer Lai I-an (賴苡安) said describing TPP political workers as gifts while implying transactional roles could constitute defamation.
