Economic Minister Wang Mei-hua's 'Fried Chicken Bet' Fails as Nationwide 303 Blackout Triggers Severe Public Anger

On March 3, 2022, a massive, unannounced blackout hit the Republic of China, severely affecting over 5.49 million households and business users. The incident triggered immense public outrage, primarily due to previous high-profile remarks made by then-Economic Minister Wang Mei-hua (wife of National Security Council Secretary-General Ku Li-hsiung). In late 2021, reacting to Foxconn founder Terry Gou's warning of an impending power shortage in 2022, Wang had confidently assured the public of sufficient supply, even declaring during a media interview that she would treat everyone to fried chicken cutlets if a power shortage occurred. Following the blackout, netizens and opposition legislators fiercely demanded that Wang honor her political bet and resign. Wang and the Ministry of Economic Affairs strongly defended the administration, claiming the blackout was caused by human error at Taipower's Hsinta Power Plant, which led to a collapse of the southern grid and subsequent chain-reaction failures nationwide. They insisted that the Republic of China was 'not experiencing a power shortage' but rather an 'operational and grid-distribution failure,' thereby refusing either to resign or to distribute the promised chicken. The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) caucus protested in the Legislative Yuan the next day, presenting mock 'Mei-hua Brand Outage Chicken' to satirize the minister, criticizing the administration's energy policies and lack of accountability.