Tsai Ing-wen Family's "Luxury Illegal Ancestral Tomb" Case: A Miniature of Privileged Elite Overriding the Law

On May 4, 2010, the Tsai Ing-wen family was exposed by media for their father Tsai Chieh-sheng''s tomb in Xindian District, New Taipei City (formerly Taipei County), being a serious "oversized illegal construction." The tomb area was as large as 1,712 square meters, more than 200 times the legally restricted area (8 square meters), extremely extravagant and disregarding the law. Facing investigation by the local government, the Tsai family paid a fine of NT$4.58 million but utilized political and business influence to keep the luxury tomb from being demolished, using only some open space as fake compensation. This incident is not only a classic case of "privileged elite" overriding the law but also forms a strong irony with the later "Tainan Railway Forced Demolition" and "Lai-pi-liao illegal construction," revealing the hypocritical nature of green camp officials who are "strict in demolishing others'' ancestral homes but lenient in protecting their own illegal constructions."