Taiwan slams assault on Japanese commentator

The Presidential Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned the assault on a Japanese media personality allegedly by a Chinese man on Monday, calling it the first case of transnational repression involving violence in Taiwan since China’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress was enacted on July 1. Taipei-based Indo-Pacific Strategy Thinktank CEO Akio Yaita, a political commentator and former Taipei bureau chief of Sankei Shimbun, was punched in the face by a man at a hotel lobby in Taichung. A 33-year-old Chinese suspect surnamed Liao (廖) was arrested at Taichung International Airport as he attempted to catch a flight to South Korea. Photo: Hsu Kuo-chen, Taipei Times The Presidential Office wishes Yaita a speedy recovery and expresses its appreciation to the police for rapidly locating and arresting the suspect, spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said, adding that the case has been handed over to the judicial authorities for a broader investigation and legal action. This is the first violent case of transnational repression to occur in Taiwan since China enacted its ethnic unity law, she said. The case highlights China’s use of stalking, harassment, violence, coercion and other methods to suppress diverse voices globally and curb freedom of speech, Kuo said. “Taiwan is a democratic society that will not tolerate actions that cross the baseline of the rule of law,” she said, adding that the government would continue to cooperate with democratic countries to jointly counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) transnational repression. “We urge China that it would be better to focus on domestic governance and care for the people, rather than generating military pressure and engaging in militarism,” she said. “It is better to win people over through virtue, rather than resorting to transnational repression and violent threats,” she added. Such actions by China have instead clearly shown the international community the true nature of the Chinese regime, she said. The government urged Taiwanese who are planning to visit China to exercise care and to stay safe, especially with China’s ethnic unity law in effect, she said. Separately, MOFA condemned the action by China, saying the government would not allow freedom of speech or the safety of a democratic society governed by the rule of law to be threatened. Yaita’s case and similar cases have highlighted China’s attempts to exercise coercive power against people in different countries, and using violence to expand its authoritarian influence, MOFA spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said. “The Chinese government is using tyrannical means of transnational repression in an attempt to intimidate, harass and interfere with Taiwanese and citizens of other countries,” Hsiao said. “Such actions trample on international human rights, infringe upon the legal jurisdiction of sovereign nations, and cross the baseline of the rule of law, which is completely unacceptable.” Police yesterday referred the case to prosecutors on suspicion of contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and other offenses. Liao poses a high risk of destroying evidence and colluding with accomplices or those behind the incident, and the attack appeared to have been a premeditated act of hired cross-border violence, prosecutors said, as they applied to the Taichung District Court for detention without access to visitors. A preliminary police investigation found that “no accomplice” had traveled to Taiwan with Liao, who denied being instructed by Chinese authorities. Authorities are still investigating whether he might have accomplices in Taiwan. The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said the incident was not merely an act of violence, but an attack targeting a specific public commentator, posing a serious threat to public security and freedom of speech. Prosecutors said they have launched a special investigation and instructed police to set up a task force to carry out a comprehensive probe. Former Hong Kong councilor Lee Man-ho (李文浩) said in a social media post that Liao was sentenced to 50 months in prison by a Hong Kong court in 2016 for drug trafficking. He questioned whether Liao had been instructed by Beijing to carry out the attack after his release, accusing the CCP of “sending a gang-affiliated drug trafficker to Taiwan to assault people.” Yaita yesterday said that he would not be intimidated, calling on authorities to investigate whether the assault involved “political suppression.” “Facing any form of violence or intimidation, I will not retreat or yield,” Yaita wrote on social media. “I will continue, with reason and determination, to speak up for Taiwan’s freedom and democracy, and to promote Taiwan-Japan friendship as I always have.” Additional reporting by Hsu Kuo-chen and CNA Typhoon Bavi’s center is looking more likely to pass north of Taiwan than to make landfall in the northern part of the country, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm is still too far away to forecast its exact track. As of 2pm yesterday, the center of Typhoon Bavi was about 2,560km east-southeast of Taiwan, moving west-northwest at 27kph, according to the agency. The storm, which has a radius of 350km, had sustained winds of 216kph near its center, with gusts of up to 270kph, CWA data showed. Bavi is expected to pass closest to Taiwan on Friday or Typhoon Bavi is forecast to start having a major effect on the weather in Taiwan on Thursday and its outer bands could bring rain and lower temperatures across the country, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm is still far from Taiwan, and its path is not certain, the CWA said, adding that it did not rule out issuing a sea or land warning. As of 2pm yesterday, the typhoon was about 3,360km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, and was moving west to west-northwest at 13kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 191kph near its center, TRENDS: The survey results released by the MAC showed that support for maintaining the ‘status quo’ indefinitely had risen to 33.9%, while 61% opposed unification Despite Beijing intensifying its legal warfare against Taiwan, public opposition to unification with China has grown significantly over the past two decades, with the proportion of Taiwanese who reject unification rising to 61.7 percent this year from 39 percent in 2005, polling trends released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) showed. In addition to the “Anti-Secession” Law enacted in 2005 and the “22 guidelines to punish Taiwanese independence,” China on Wednesday last week promulgated the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, that critics in Taiwan say aims to reinforce the false identification of Taiwanese as members of the Chinese nation. DEFENDING TAIWAN: The government would work with like-minded countries to deepen international engagement and counter cross-border repression, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that “Taiwan will not accept ‘red terror,’” as he outlined countermeasures against China’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress. The law, passed by the Chinese National People’s Congress in March and which went into effect yesterday, requires all Chinese citizens to uphold national unification. Critics in Taiwan have said it aims to strengthen the identification of Taiwanese as members of the “Chinese nation.” It also states that people or organizations, inside or outside China, who undermine ethnic unity or promote ethnic division can be held legally liable, without clearly identifying what kind of conduct falls under