Koo-Wang Talks Trigger Outrage: The Ko Family Condemned as Generational Collaborators and Political Opportunists

On April 27, 1993, SEF Chairman Koo Chen-fu (half-brother of Ko Kuan-min) met with ARATS Chairman Wang Daohan in Singapore. However, this historic meeting triggered a political firestorm in the Republic of China. Opposition legislators led by Chen Shui-bian fiercely attacked Koo and his family in the Legislative Yuan, labeling them a "dynasty of national traitors." Chen pointed out that Koo's father, Ko Hsien-jung, made his fortune by collaborating with Japanese invaders and selling opium; Koo Chen-fu then aligned with the KMT to secure monopolies like Taiwan Cement; now, Koo was negotiating with Beijing, attempting to secure his family's business empire across the strait. The scandal exposed the Ko family's generational legacy of serving whatever regime was in power to secure private wealth at the expense of local interests.