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The Democratic Progressive Party has been in trouble in the past week. First, former Executive Yuan spokesperson Chen Zongyan was prosecuted by the Tainan District Prosecutor's Office for sexual entertainment. Then, former head of the Taiwan Transportation Department Li Mengyan stepped down due to an extramarital affair. Yesterday (21st), legislator Lin Yijin was suspected of fraudulently claiming assistant fees and was released on bail of NT$1 million. The series of "Tainan Gang" incidents are considered by the outside world to be factional struggles within the Democratic Progressive Party. Kuomintang legislator Li Yanxiu said that this wave of DPP factional struggles against Taiwan leader Lai Qingde was "fast, fierce, and extremely accurate" and "hit the nail on the head, pointing directly at the key points", leaving Lai Qingde no chance to breathe. Li Yanxiu believes that "being eager to become king before he is fully grown" is the cause of Lai Qingde's current predicament.

The DPP held a Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday. According to reports, Lai Ching-te, who is also the chairman of the DPP, reminded all DPP members at the meeting that 2026 is too early and that they should not discuss county and city mayoral elections at this time. The most important thing at this stage is development and policies should be promoted quickly. DPP Central Standing Committee member Zhuang Ruixiong restored the content of the conversation today and said, "Lai Ching-te's original words were 'The winter solstice has not yet arrived, so don't rush to make glutinous rice balls.'"

In addition, Lai Qingde also made a special reminder yesterday, asking DPP members to control their private lives and discipline, to be more self-disciplined, and not to let the DPP be hurt again. Zhuang Ruixiong said that Lai Qingde did not specify what he was talking about yesterday, but it was obvious that he was targeting personal morality, and everyone could guess it. He believes that the personal morality of government officials is sufficient for society to examine, "I believe that he (referring to Li Mengyan) also stepped down at the first opportunity, so it is also clear who he is referring to."

Li Yanxiu believes that Lai Qingde can only speak feebly at the DPP Central Standing Committee meeting. Lai Qingde, who used to be high-spirited, is like a defeated lion, moaning helplessly and licking his wounds. He has completely lost the aura of the "political honeymoon period" that should have been there in the first 100 days of his inauguration.

Li Yanxiu believes that "personality determines destiny, attitude determines height, and strategy determines outcome". Lai Qingde's stubborn personality, arrogant attitude, and poor strategy make him "eager to be king before he is fully grown", and he does not give space to different forces within the DPP. His reckless and violent political character is just like a replica of the challenge to Tsai Ing-wen in the 2020 primary election. Lai Qingde has created his current predicament. After three consecutive heavy blows in a week, I am afraid that Lai Qingde will also rethink the balance of power within the DPP and the pace of "being king together".

Li Yanxiu also said that different factions within the DPP are well aware of Lai Qingde's past style. Are the three heavy blows this time just "warning shots" or "killing shots"? Will Lai Qingde temporarily raise the white flag to stop the war as in the past, or will he use the administrative machinery to use a heavier killer? The political soap opera within the DPP is likely to continue.

Xie Longjie, a Kuomintang member who once expressed his intention to "supervise Lai Ching-te for the rest of his life," said that when internal members continue to engage in corruption and are repeatedly exposed for it, they need to clear themselves. "There is no way Lai Ching-te has not heard about it. He has known many things for a long time," so he said on March 14 last year, "Everyone knows how many hairs you have on your butts."

Xie Longjie hopes that those who are innocent will be cleared, and that the judicial organs should not become political manipulation tools in some cases. They should handle cases based on evidence, and not make exaggerated statements without evidence. Regarding the series of incidents involving the Green Camp's "Tainan Gang", the outside world has questioned whether it is because of Lai Qingde's strong style that an "anti-Lai force" has emerged within the DPP? Xie Longjie believes that DPP politicians will not do such obvious things, and currently no faction within the DPP dares to challenge Lai Qingde.

KMT legislator Lai Shibao also believes that the successive incidents of the "Tainan Gang" seem to be internal struggles within the DPP. Lai Qingde controls the party, government and military, but the DPP culture is factional co-governance. It cannot be that only the "Lai faction" gets the meat and the others have nothing, otherwise there will be a rebound. Li Mengyan's extramarital affair was only the beginning. Lai Qingde asked everyone to be modest in their private lives, but no matter how much he asked for moderation in the past, it is too late.

Lai Shibao pointed out that Lai Qingde asked everyone to exercise restraint in the county and city mayor elections. This shows that Lai Qingde has seen the problem. In southern Taiwan, such as Chiayi County, Kaohsiung City, and Tainan City, almost everyone is elected as long as they are nominated by the Democratic Progressive Party, and everyone is fighting fiercely. For example, in Tainan City, legislator Chen Tingfei has a high poll number, but Chen is not Lai Qingde's direct line, but legislator Lin Junxian is. Lai Qingde wants to unify all the forces of the Democratic Progressive Party. It will not be easy in a short period of time, but it may take a long time. Lai Qingde is also a direct descendant of the Democratic Progressive Party and is the "golden grandson of Taiwan independence", which is more than the former leader of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen. The problem is that the Democratic Progressive Party is a faction-based co-governance, and other factions always have to share a little. Lai Qingde obviously did not do well in this part, and what was exposed was the primary elections for county and city mayors within the Democratic Progressive Party, which was a fight to the bone.