TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's interior minister delivered a sharp rebuke Wednesday (March 26) against one of the country's most notorious criminal organizations for attempting to conduct leadership elections inside the parliament compound. Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) condemned the Bamboo Union (竹聯幫), Taiwan's largest organized crime syndicate, for planning to select its new leader in the Legislative Yuan's (立法院) restaurant, a move she characterized as "highly inappropriate." The minister warned that such brazen activity within the halls of government would severely damage Taiwan's international reputation and undermine the normal functioning of relations between the legislative and executive branches.
The audacious plan by the Bamboo Union, widely recognized as Taiwan's most powerful criminal organization, was thwarted only after direct intervention from the highest levels of government. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), upon learning of the scheduled Tuesday vote, promptly ordered authorities to take action, resulting in police canceling the parliament restaurant reservation. Undeterred by the government's intervention, the criminal group simply relocated their leadership selection process to an alternate venue in Taipei's Zhongshan District (中山區), moving their activities from government property to a commercial establishment.
During her remarks, Minister Liu highlighted the particularly troubling timing of the attempted gang gathering, noting that both Premier Cho and Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) were present in the parliament building on Tuesday for official government business. The minister stressed that allowing a criminal organization to conduct activities in the same venue simultaneously with top government officials would have severely tarnished Taiwan's national image. When reporters attempted to determine whether the criminal group had established prior communication channels with parliamentary authorities to secure the venue, Liu sidestepped the inquiry, drawing a jurisdictional boundary by emphasizing her position within the Executive Yuan (行政院) and suggesting such questions about Legislative Yuan operations fell outside her purview.
