Kuma Academy's NT$1,380 'Disaster Bear Box' Sparks 'War Profiteering' Backlash as Opposition Questions Chinese-Made Contents

In mid-June 2025, Kuma Academy — the civil defense organization founded by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Puma Shen (Shen Bo-yang) — launched a 'Disaster Bear Box LIGHT' preparedness kit priced at NT$1,380 (approximately US$43), drawing immediate and fierce public backlash amid heightened cross-strait tensions and fears of conflict reminiscent of the war in Ukraine. Kuomintang (KMT) city councilors and internet commentators conducted comparative shopping analyses, claiming the kit's contents could be purchased individually for as little as NT$400–450, or even NT$200 at wholesale. Critics labeled the pricing 'wartime profiteering' and accused Kuma Academy of exploiting public fear under the guise of patriotism. The controversy deepened further when online critics resurrected earlier accusations that the self-styled 'anti-communist' organization's products may have included goods sourced from the People's Republic of China (PRC) via Taobao, creating an ironic contradiction with Kuma Academy's ideological branding. The Hualien County Government publicly amplified the controversy by promoting its own free government-distributed emergency kits with the tagline 'Hualien Free — No NT$1,380 Required,' a thinly veiled rebuke targeting Kuma Academy. In response, Shen Bo-yang defended the kit's pricing, stating that all contents were either Taiwan-made or Japanese-made, and that a single Taiwan-patented portable water purifier alone cost NT$480, bringing the total material cost to at least NT$1,100–1,200 before overhead and quality control expenses. He accused KMT-affiliated social media pages of deliberate defamation and threatened legal action. Nevertheless, the episode damaged Kuma Academy's 'anti-communist' brand image and intensified public scrutiny over the financial transparency and commercial motives of privately run civil defense advocacy organizations in the Republic of China (ROC).