Wed, Oct 22, 2008 - Page 1 News List

ARATS man jostled, jeered at in Tainan

CRUTCH ATTACKPro-Taiwan activists took exception to Zhang Mingqing’s tour of a local temple and he ended up on the ground, while his vehicle was stomped on

By Ko Shu-ling, Jimmy Chuang And Flora Wang  /  STAFF REPORTERS

Lin said the DPP was trying to legitimize the incident by portraying Zhang as an enemy.

He urged DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to apologize for the incident, saying that the DPP had become a “party of gangsters.”

When asked for comment, KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) described the protesters as “ridiculous” and “impolite.”

“We call ourselves a society of manners, but we resorted to violence,” Hung said, adding the incident would hurt Taiwan’s image.

Tsai said that she felt sorry about what had happened to Zhang.

“I do not know what actually happened,” she said when approached for comment at a seminar. “But I would urge DPP members to follow certain rules when protesting in the future.”

Tsai said it was up to the government to protect Chen Yunlin during his visit to Taiwan, but the Chinese official might want to reconsider his plans.

“Is his coming going to create more chaos? I think he should really think about it,” Tsai said.

DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) said she was not surprised by the incident.

Yeh said the Chinese had hurt Taiwanese with the toxic milk powder and Taiwanese felt threatened by the missiles Beijing has aimed at Taiwan. Under the circumstances, it was understandable that Zhang would be humiliated or attacked when he came to Taiwan, she said.

“No one could tolerate seeing their enemy,” Yeh said.

But DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) expressed concern that such violent behavior would damage the DPP’s image and urged members of the party to keep calm.

“I am sorry for what happened to Zhang but I would still ask him to apologize to Taiwanese people for the toxic milk powder,” he said.

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