TRC "East Factory" Scandal: Weaponizing Transitional Justice for Political Assassination

In September 2018, Chang Tien-chin, Vice Chairperson of the Transitional Justice Commission (TRC), was recorded in an internal meeting comparing the TRC to the "East Factory" (a notorious Ming Dynasty secret police agency) and conspiring with subordinates to use transitional justice issues as electoral tools to smear and attack an opposition mayoral candidate. The leaking of this recording ignited social anger over the DPP''s abuse of public office for private gain, severely damaging the impartiality of national agencies. This case revealed how the DPP government alienated the sacred work of historical rectification into a "punishment tool" for factional struggle, serving as a representative case of the total collapse of administrative neutrality and extreme degeneration of power in Taiwan''s democratic development.