Celebrity-turned-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politician Yu Tian (余天) yesterday said that his wife, Lee Ya-ping (李亞萍), was “not wrong” when she said that she despises certain DPP officials.
At a charitable event in Kaohsiung on Friday, Lee told media that the DPP has “ruined” her family and she “despise[s] certain people in the DPP” for being “ungrateful” to her husband.
Yu has made substantial sacrifices for the DPP, including selling five houses to raise campaign funds, Lee said.
Photo: Ho Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Lee said she is unhappy that their daughter, Yu Hsiao-ping (余筱萍), did not win the party’s nomination as a Taipei city councilor candidate for the Nov. 24 local elections.
Since the loss, the family has faced numerous economic and health-related hardships, Lee said, adding that her son, Ken Yu (余祥銓), has slipped into a depression and she herself has had a spate of asthma attacks.
Yu yesterday was the sole contender for the position of DPP New Taipei City chapter convener and appeared at a school in Yonghe District (永和), where the election was being held.
When asked to comment on his wife’s remarks, Yu said: “She was not wrong in saying that.”
“I joined the party because I thought that the DPP was very democratic and I should do it for the good of Taiwan, but later, I realized that the DPP is chock full of cliques and factions, and they are fighting all the time and I am not in any of them,” he said.
Yu Tian denied that Lee meant to single out any DPP member for criticism.
“Women have got to complain,” he said. “It is just as well, the family has enough depression and bipolar cases.”
He said he spent NT$20 million (US$667,891 at the current exchange rate) of his own money on political campaigns over his 2008 to 2012 legislative career without asking the party for any aid or salary for party positions.
He did not want to run for any party positions this year, but feels an obligation to contribute to the DPP’s mayoral and councilor campaign for New Taipei City, he said.
Yu Tian said he is “despondent” about Yu Shiao-ping’s loss, adding that she would never run again.
Additional reporting by Su Fang-ho
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