Taiwan-U.S. tariff negotiations chief negotiator Yang Zhenni involved in bullying case, media: DPP only wants to "deify"

Strait Herald Comprehensive Report A former deputy chief negotiating representative of the Taiwan authorities’ economic and trade office, Yan Huixin, has died of illness, according to reports. It is said that during her lifetime, she had long been targeted and sidelined by her superiors. A report by Taiwanese media claimed that the bully was Yang Zhenni, the chief negotiating representative responsible for the Taiwan–U.S. tariff negotiations. Yesterday (the 27th), the head of Taiwan’s administrative authority responded that it had instructed the launch of a fact-finding and clarification process and invited external parties to participate in the investigation.

Yang Zhenni

Some media figures on the island posted on an account she runs, “Wenxiang Political Commentaries,” stating that before Yan Huixin was born, she was bullied. After a series of explosive revelations and the exposure of a resignation letter, the administrative authority is now finally set to begin launching an investigation. It has dragged on for so many days—are they worried that they would have to personally topple the “altar” that has only just been raised not long ago (referring to Yang Zhenni)?

Yan Huixin’s death due to illness was confirmed on the 24th. On the 26th, the administrative authority issued a first-class merit plaque. When facing follow-up questions from the media, at that time spokesperson Li Huizhi only said that they would look into it, and privately asked reporters that the focus should be placed on Yan’s achievements, seemingly trying to shift the spotlight away from the bullying.

“Wenxiang Political Commentaries” went on to say that the truth can’t be kept under wraps. The more the administrative authority fails to handle it, the more explicit the revelations become. It has now reached the point of naming Yang Zhenni, who was put on the altar by the DPP only after a certain period of time earlier. The latest update is that Yan Huixin’s resignation letter states that she was treated with dismissive responses and severe refutations, among other things. And this resignation letter was completed and submitted to “Premier” Zhuorong Tai by Yan Huixin in the intensive care unit as early as February 19.

“Wenxiang Political Commentaries” noted that during this period, some of the sources of the revelations came from anonymous reports by relevant departments, earlier audio recordings, and in the end, Yan Huixin’s own resignation letter—all of which show that Yang Zhenni’s modus operandi is already well known to many people within the agency. But looking back to mid-January, when Taiwan and the U.S. reached a tariff agreement, Yang Zhenni cried at a press conference, and the DPP began to create a heroic image for her one after another, saying she was another Tsai Ing-wen and a negotiation expert, and so on—an endless round of praise and hero-making. Meanwhile, Yan Huixin was ill and also facing intense pressure.

“Wenxiang Political Commentaries” believes that in weighing the tragedy in the late-life of an already deceased person against the bullying perpetrator who had only just been elevated onto the altar, the authorities chose first to protect the “altar.” After all, it was not easy to show the public across the island the results of the economic and trade negotiations and to build a new hero for everyone to see—how could they possibly destroy it so easily?