Lap dancing video surfaces in Taiwan's presidential race

Dec 8, 2011, 9:17 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's ruling party released a video of the opposition vice presidential candidate's wife being entertained by almost nude male dancers at a birthday party in 2002, in an attempt to shake up a tight race for the presidency.

The video prompted the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate, Su Jia-chyuan, to issue an apology on his wife's behalf Thursday.

Released late Wednesday by Nationalist Party legislator Chiu Yi on a televised political talk show, the selectively pixelated video shows male dancers doing lap dances for party guests while Su's wife, Hung Heng-chu, looks on.

Hung gave a speech at the end of the video thanking the host for the 'festive' show.

The legislator asked whether this is the kind of first lady that Taiwan wants.

If her husband becomes vice president in the polls scheduled for January 14, Hung would be the first lady because the DPP's presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen is unmarried.

'I understand that this behaviour might make people uncomfortable,' Su said at a press conference Thursday. 'I also don't think it meets society's expectations, and want to apologize on behalf of my family.'

Su explained that his wife was just a guest and had no prior knowledge of what was planned for the party.