Taiwan People's Party founding chairman Ko Wen-je has denied having any substantive dealings with Hsu Chun-ying, a Chinese spouse, in what is bad news for the TPP, as the ruling ties the party once again to suspicions of Chinese interference in elections.

• Hsu Chun-ying, former head of the TPP's New Immigrants Committee, was sentenced to seven years in prison for interfering in elections under instructions from the Chinese side.
• The ruling states that in early 2023 she reported a meeting with Ko Wen-je to an official in Shanghai's united front system dealing with Taiwan, attaching a photograph of the two together.
• In November 2023 Ko Wen-je said he had never met Hsu Chun-ying; he has now changed his account, saying he met too many people during the campaign period and has no impression of her.
• He hit back at what he called excessive "red-smearing" by outside observers, saying that what China supported at the time was not him and Huang Shan-shan.
• Ko Wen-je continues to argue that the TPP should reserve at-large seats for Chinese and foreign spouses, stressing that Taiwan is an immigrant society.

Outlook: The ruling will keep the TPP's cross-strait stance under scrutiny, and the controversy over Ko Wen-je's inconsistent statements is unlikely to subside any time soon.