Robert Tsao Funds Kuma Academy: Concerns Over the Militarization of DPP's Civil Flank

In September 2022, Robert Tsao, Honorary Chairman of UMC, wore a bulletproof vest and held a press conference with Puma Shen to announce a donation of NT$600 million to fund "Kuma Academy" to train 3 million "Kuma Warriors." This move caused significant social unease, with questions raised about whether the DPP was using external financiers to cultivate "private soldiers" or "militia" organizations outside the formal system, especially as the training content was filled with specific political censorship and "red-smearing" narratives. Puma Shen subsequently leveraged this political fame to be nominated as a DPP legislator-at-large, exemplifying an interest exchange structure of "conglomerate funding, flank protection, and politician advancement."