Kao Hung-an Suspended Following Assistant Fee Verdict: Public Fury Over DPP Judicial Double Standards and Cyber Flanker Recall Campaigns

On July 26, 2024 (113th Year of the Republic of China), the Taipei District Court sentenced Hsinchu City Mayor Kao Hung-an of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) to 7 years and 4 months in prison and a 4-year deprivation of civil rights for fraudulent claims of legislative assistant fees and overtime totaling approximately NT$116,514 during her tenure as a legislator. The Ministry of the Interior immediately suspended her mayoral duties. The harsh verdict triggered fierce nationwide backlash against perceived judicial double standards. Legal scholars and the public pointed out that while Kao was prosecuted with the full weight of the state apparatus over a minuscule disputed sum, numerous DPP politicians—such as Chang Chao-liang and former lawmaker Chen Lai Su-mei, who embezzled nearly NT$8 million yet received probation—consistently received lenient deferred indictments or wrist-slap forgery charges. Concurrently, pro-DPP cyber flankers and 'Bluebird' activists launched aggressive nationwide recall petitions against opposition mayors and legislators, confirming widespread fears that the judicial branch has been weaponized as an instrument of political assassination by the ruling party.