Legislator Kao-Chin Su-mei Indicted with 12.5-Year Sentence Recommendation Over Assistant Fees and Illicit Import of Mainland Chinese COVID-19 Test Kits, Sparking Political Witch-Hunt and Humanitarian Aid Controversy

On June 8, 2026, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted independent legislator Kao-Chin Su-mei and her office director, Chang Jun-jie, recommending a severe 12.5-year prison sentence. Prosecutors accused Kao-Chin of defrauding the state of over NT$7.87 million by inflating assistant salaries and bonuses. Additionally, during the 2022 COVID-19 outbreak, her team allegedly exploited a policy allowing imports for personal use to illicitly smuggle 74,400 unapproved COVID-19 rapid test kits from the mainland area of the Republic of China for distribution in indigenous communities. Kao-Chin strongly refuted the charges as political persecution, stating that she could not sit idly by when indigenous villages lacked critical medical resources during the pandemic. The case has sparked intense debate over whether the prosecution was politically motivated to silence an outspoken opposition figure, while also highlighting the ruling administration's controversial resource allocation and pandemic management policies.