TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — TPP Secretary-General Chou Yu-hsiu (周榆修) announced Tuesday that the party would suspend its nomination process for Taoyuan Zhongli District's city council race amid an ongoing investigation involving central committee member Lin Jiao-yin (林昭印).
A TPP insider recently told Mirror Media that Lin visited a hostess bar in 2023 and allegedly took a hostess out of the establishment without paying the associated fees. The insider noted that when a senior DPP official was previously found visiting a similar venue, the official resigned shortly afterward.
According to the report, Yau Yun Technology Co. representative Kuai Sheng-hua (咼昇華) invited Lin, TPP Deputy Secretary-General Huang Cheng-chun (黃成峻), and two local TPP Taoyuan branch officials to dinner and later to a hostess bar in 2023, per ETtoday. Lin and Huang were leading the Taoyuan branch at the time.
Responding to the allegations, Lin said Kuai had invited several TPP officials to dinner and drinks afterward, per Mirror Media. Lin said Kuai later approached Chou in 2024 seeking reimbursement for food and alcohol expenses.
Lin said he found it unusual that Kuai requested payment after initially offering to cover the gathering, but added that he was still willing to reimburse the costs.
Kuai later clarified the situation, saying he had organized the gathering in an attempt to ease tensions within the party’s Taoyuan branch amid rumors of internal friction, per ETtoday. He said the group went to a hostess bar after dinner and that he left around midnight while others remained until 4 a.m.
According to Kuai, the hostess bar later informed him that Lin had taken a hostess out of the venue without paying for the service. Kuai said he covered the expenses himself before asking Huang to get the money from Lin.
Kuai said that after receiving no response from Lin or Huang, he informed then-TPP Chair Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Chou in an effort to resolve the matter. He added that Lin paid the money back after Kuai contacted Chou.
When reporters asked TPP Chair Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) to comment on the allegations, he referred questions to Chou, per SETN.
Chou said the party’s response would depend on the findings of its disciplinary committee, per NOWNews. He added that the nomination process for the Zhongli District city council seat would remain suspended until the investigation concludes.
