Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Li Zhen-xiu/Facebook
THE POLITICAL SAGA around TPP legislator Li Zhen-xiu, the first China-born legislator in contemporary times, came to a bizarre turn last month with Li’s expulsion from her party. As Li is a party list legislator, following expulsion from the TPP, that means that she will lose her status as a legislator.
Li previously came under public scrutiny because of allegations that she had not gone through the legal process to forfeit her Chinese nationality, a prerequisite for taking office in Taiwan. Although Li was not part of the TPP’s original slate of legislators, party regulations unique to the TPP stipulate that the party changes its slate of party list legislators every two years, rather than serving a full four years. While the party claims that this is to ensure that the party comes first, rather than the careers of individual politicians, this may be a system designed to keep party founder Ko Wen-je front and center. Even if some TPP politicians pushed against the two-year rule taking effect, it ultimately came to pass, resulting in Li moving into the rotation of TPP legislators.
Li was the first “Chinese spouse” of a Taiwanese to take office, in this sense. Li acquired Taiwanese nationality through marriage to a Taiwanese national, who she divorced in 2024.
The timing of Li entering the legislature proved sensitive, in that the issue of Chinese spouses of Taiwanese had become increasingly controversial in the past few years. Previously, the Lai administration invalidated the residency of several Chinese spouses of Taiwanese, who were known as online influencers, over public expressions of support for unification between Taiwan and China using force.
Under Taiwanese law, legislators can originally have other nationalities, but are required to give them up when holding public office. This is a matter of greater complexity when it comes to China, in that China is not technically a separate polity, and China sometimes does not acknowledge Taiwanese government procedures.
For her part, when the Ministry of the Interior, Mainland Affairs Council, and other government agencies weighed in that they had not received the relevant paperwork for Li giving up her Chinese nationality, Li claimed that public security bureaus in Hengyang City in Hunan Province and in Hengnan County had denied her application to give up her citizenship. Even if Legislative Yuan president Han Kuo-yu backed Li taking office, resulting in her swearing-in, the Lai administration stated that relevant government bureaus would refuse requests for information by Li on national security grounds. Indeed, Lai administration cabinet officials such as Ministry of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang refused to comply with questioning by Li in the legislature.
Even so, the KMT committed itself to the defense of Li, the party having traditionally framed itself as the defender of the interests of Chinese spouses of Taiwanese. Legislation introduced by KMT caucus leader Fu Kun-chi would allow Chinese spouses of Taiwanese to take office without renouncing their original nationality.
Li seemed to be riding high, then, in framing herself as a Chinese spouse of a Taiwanese who was unfairly attacked by the DPP. The start of her downfall came soon after taking office, however, when on a livestream program, Li alleged that Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao had received 7 million NT in payments from Ko.
it is unclear as to why Li publicized such allegations. Kao was originally a member of the TPP, but left the party after facing corruption charges in 2024, with Kao accused of embezzling subsidies meant for hiring legislative aides. For her part, Kao denied wrongdoing and claimed to be unfairly targeted by the DPP in an act of political persecution. Though Kao was cleared of such charges in 2025, she remains an independent, and her current relationship with the TPP remains unclear. The TPP still claims that Kao’s prosecution was only due to targeting by the DPP, which leaves the door open for Kao to rejoin the party.
Even so, what may have offended the TPP was the suggestion that Ko, the party founder, had bribed Kao. The TPP was, of course, originally formed by Ko in preparation for a presidential run, and the party’s identity still largely revolves around Ko. It proves inconvenient alleging Ko had participated in corruption when he is set to face 17 years in jail on corruption charges linked to the Core Pacific City Mall, with Ko accused of receiving bribes in return for expanding the mall’s floor area ratio.
Li’s expulsion, then, occurred on grounds of violating party discipline and hurting the party’s image. Another reason for Li’s expulsion was that, after the TPP began to consider expelling Li, Li apparently asked for monetary compensation in return for resigning, falling afoul of regulations about holding public office. Li has stated that she will file a lawsuit about her expulsion.
Pan-green media has honed in on Li’s appearance at the TPP meeting about her expulsion, carrying a bag worth nearly 38,000 NT. Records show that Li owns another bag worth 400,000 NT and she has been seen with shoes worth 40,000 NT. This has been criticized as contrary to how she has depicted herself as a poor mother of five.
Other reporting has suggested links between Li and Xu Chunying, a Chinese spouse who served as the head of a new immigrants’ association, and was considered as a TPP party list candidate. Xu currently faces charges on violations of the Anti-Infiltration Act for acting as part of United Front efforts to drum up support for Ko. According to such reports, Li was cultivated as a TPP candidate in Xu’s stead, and her entrance into politics may also be linked to the United Front. The organization formed by Xu for Chinese spouses in Taiwan is currently being investigated and may be dissolved.
Li’s rise and fall, then, has proven a meteoric one. It proves surprising that Li’s downfall turns out not to be linked to her status as the first China-born legislator in modern times, but due to slandering Ko Wen-je. Indeed, it does not seem that the party turned on her over getting cold feet over backing a Chinese spouse taking office, given the extent to which the party committed itself to defending her against the DPP. But it seems that casting doubt on the integrity of Ko Wen-je was a step too far for the TPP.