A Taiwanese political fight over a fraud case has taken an odd turn, and it looks bad for the ruling DPP, which is now scrambling to explain away a suspicious reference to its own name.

• The Tzu Chi charity fraud case turned up a reference to "DPP100," which rival parties seized on to accuse the ruling DPP of being tied to the scheme.
• DPP lawmaker Fan Yun pushed back, saying "DPP" here stands for "Digital Product Passport," a blockchain term, not the party's initials.
• She joked there could also be a DPP200 or DPP300, and insisted the party has no connection to the case.
• Critics online mocked the defense, saying another figure in the case, Chen Yu-xuan, tried to pin blame on a dead person.

Outlook: Expect the DPP to keep demanding a fast, impartial investigation to clear its name as opponents press the attack.