Taiwan actress Chiang Tsu-ping accuses senior TV exec’s son of sexual assault

Taiwan’s entertainment industry has been rocked by another #MeToo scandal, with a senior executive of a television station resigning due to the fallout.

Taiwanese actress Chiang Tsu-ping first revealed on social media platform Threads on Aug 18 that an actress had been sexually assaulted and secretly filmed by a man “connected to the television station”, without disclosing any names.

Chiang, 47, is known for her roles in Taiwan’s long-running TV dramas such as Love (2006 to 2008), Night Market Life (2009 to 2011) and Great Times (2018 to 2019).

She continued posting on Threads on Sept 2, expressing indignation that the man had failed to apologise even though he had left the TV station.

She then shared on Sept 3 morning several photos showing the man partially or with his eyes pixelated. He was seen in one of the photos wearing a shirt with the English words SET, sparking speculation that he was connected to Sanlih E-Television (SET).

Chiang shared more photos on Threads that evening of the man with the Chinese word for “scumbag” on his face. His face was clear in two of the photos, and she revealed that he was Mr Kung Yi-ting, the son of Mr Kung Mei-fu, a senior deputy general manager of SET.

Mr Kung Yi-ting, 25, broke his silence on social media on Sept 4.

“I fell in love with a woman over 20 years my senior in 2024. We officially started dating on Oct 23, 2024,” he wrote in a long post in Chinese. “She is famous actress Chiang Tsu-ping. We kept our relationship private to avoid causing trouble for each other.”

Mr Kung claimed that he and Chiang argued frequently due to their different views resulting from their age gap, and that they broke up on Aug 31.

He said that her statements posted on Threads were one-sided and contained false accusations. He urged her to remove the false posts and added he would cooperate fully with any police investigations.

Chiang reacted to Mr Kung’s post swiftly, saying she would not remove her posts.

Taiwan’s Mirror Media reported on Sept 5 that Chiang told the magazine that she was the actress mentioned in the post on Aug 18. She added that three more women have come forward to say they were victims. 

SET announced on Sept 7 that Mr Kung Mei-fu had stepped down from his position, adding it would continue with its internal investigations.

Unlike the #MeToo scandal in 2023, where there was great support for the victims, few artistes have publicly backed Chiang.

One supporter was Taiwanese actress Tina Chou, who in 2023 accused Taiwanese TV host Blackie Chen of sexual harassment in 2012.

“As an ambassador advocating against sexual violence, the foundation and I have consistently championed the principle that ‘only yes means yes’,” Chou wrote in Chinese on Facebook on Sept 9, referring to the Modern Women’s Foundation.

“There is zero tolerance towards all forms of sexual violence. The foundation remains steadfast in its efforts to support victims, ensuring that no one faces this alone.”