A Taiwanese spy scandal has turned into a fight over history, with a ruling-party official accusing an independent lawmaker of hiding behind her Indigenous ancestors' suffering — bad for Kao Chin Su-mei's credibility as the case widens.

• Chang Chun-chieh, the top money handler for independent lawmaker Kao Chin Su-mei, is accused of taking Chinese funding to build a network inside Taiwan.
• Chang allegedly cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet and fled, deepening the scandal.
• Kao compared the investigation to Taiwan's martial-law era, when the state used "communist spy" labels to crush political opponents.
• DPP deputy news director Huang Tzu-yi hit back, saying she has no right to invoke martial law given what real Atayal leaders suffered under it.
• Huang listed Atayal figures jailed or executed in the 1950s for seeking land rights, health care, and tribal dignity — some sent to death on Chiang Kai-shek's personal sign-off.

Outlook: The case is likely to keep escalating as prosecutors pursue the fugitive aide, with the political fight over who owns the martial-law legacy running alongside it.