The public feud between Taiwanese Kuomintang legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin and her husband's relatives has escalated further, a negative development for her political image.

• Tu Ping-cheng, the husband of Hsu Chiao-hsin's sister-in-law, was sentenced to 15 years in the first instance in a money laundering and fraud case and is currently undergoing a second-instance trial. Released on bail, he has continued to publicly attack Hsu.
• Tu alleged on social media that Hsu has kept a low profile in recent months because she filed criminal complaints against him for domestic violence and unlawful restraint, and also petitioned the court for a protection order.
• Hsu is not his spouse; more likely, she reported him in her capacity as a relative by marriage over his alleged violence against her sister-in-law Liu Hsiang-chieh.
• Tu has previously claimed on multiple occasions to hold evidence of wrongdoing by Hsu, including classified submarine acoustic signature information, the acceptance of kickbacks and insider trading in the stock market. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office has already opened a preliminary inquiry file on him and consolidated it into its investigation.
• The related posts drew tens of thousands of likes, with many online users asking why she has suddenly gone quiet.

Outlook: The consolidated prosecutorial investigation and the progress of the second-instance trial will determine whether these mutual accusations move from a war of words to substantive legal risk; in the short term, the exchange of fire between the two sides is likely to continue.