Top Taiwan government spokeswoman quits after report of her affair with bodyguard

TAIPEI – A high-profile government spokeswoman in Taiwan has resigned after a media outlet reported that she had an affair with a government-appointed bodyguard.

The Presidential Office said Ms Kolas Yotaka tendered her resignation on Wednesday to avoid any negative impact on its work.

President Tsai Ing-wen approved the resignation, it added.

Ms Kolas, a member of Taiwan’s Amis minority group, is known for becoming the first indigenous person to serve as spokesperson for the office of Taiwan’s leader or the Cabinet.

She is a former lawmaker who ran unsuccessfully for magistrate in Hualien county, in eastern Taiwan, in November 2022.

Taipei-based Mirror Media, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, reported that a married police officer was assigned to serve as her bodyguard during her campaign and that she had an affair with him.

Ms Kolas, 49, said in a Facebook post she “wasn’t aware of the true situation in the man’s marriage and never had intimate behaviour that crossed the boundaries with him”. She added that the Mirror Media report exaggerated details and took some other information out of context.

She no longer has any contact with the man, she said, adding that “the truth will be clarified”.

The man identified by local media as Mr Li also penned an apology to his family on Facebook, revealing that he led a “disharmonious life for many years” with his wife, who has reportedly filed a suit against Ms Kolas using chat logs as evidence.

Mr Li, who is reportedly six years Ms Kolas’ junior, also admitted he had not shared his marital situation with her.

The episode comes as Taiwan’s political, business, entertainment and academic scenes are rocked nearly daily by accusations of sexual misconduct by well-known celebrities such as Mickey Huang, Aaron Yan, Nono and Blackie Chen. 

Earlier this month, Ms Tsai

apologised twice in a week

over sexual harassment allegations involving the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

At least three lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang have also had harassment complaints levelled at them.

The unfurling #MeToo movement in Taiwan

, a democracy of 23 million people, complicates the run-up to a presidential election in January 2024. That race is being closely watched in the US, which supplies Taiwan with weapons to defend against any military aggression by Beijing.

China considers Taiwan a breakaway territory to be reunified by force if necessary, and has twice held major exercises near the island since August.

President Joe Biden has repeatedly said the US will defend Taiwan if it is attacked, though aides walked back his comments each time. 

The DPP’s stance is that Taiwan is already an independent nation, whereas the KMT is China’s preferred negotiating partner.

The United Daily News, which tends to support the KMT, said in a commentary that the Kolas episode could hurt Vice-President Lai Ching-te, the DPP’s candidate, in his presidential election campaign.

The newspaper described Ms Kolas as a confidant of Mr Lai’s, and noted that he publicly endorsed her when she ran for office in Hualien. Bloomberg