Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), who has spent several days in seclusion after being caught having an extramarital affair, yesterday denied media speculation that the vehicle he used to travel to a motel with the woman was provided by a private enterprise.
In a statement released by Wu’s legislative office, Wu said he has rented the vehicle, a BMW SUV, from Carplus Auto Leasing Co at a cost of NT$62,500 per month since June 12 last year.
Wu said he had used the car since winning his re-election bid, adding that the car was not offered by any private business nor did he have any inappropriate connections with any businesses.
Wu issued the statement after the Chinese-language Apple Daily cited an anonymous KMT legislator as speculating that the car might have been offered by a private company to Wu, since many businesses offer rented vehicles to elected representatives free of charge as a form of political donation.
The story also cited an unidentified reader as saying that the SUV was offered to Wu by a friend in the construction business.
Wu has been in seclusion since the Apple Daily ran a front page story on Friday featuring a series of pictures showing Wu and an unidentified woman arriving at a motel in Dazhi (大直), Taipei City, on Wednesday last week.
The report said that Wu, who is married with three children, had dinner with the woman earlier that evening and arrived at the motel at 9:21pm, leaving at about 11:50pm.
Wu admitted the affair and apologized to the public at the legislature on Friday, saying he felt ashamed and guilty.
He said he “got momentarily lost” because of an “impulse” and went to a place he should not have visited.
He later announced that he would spend the next five days alone and try to make amends with his family.
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said lawmakers should refrain from accepting donations from private enterprises.
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