Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tainan City Councilor Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) was indicted yesterday for inciting supporters to use violence against Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Vice Chairman Zhang Mingqing (張銘清) during his visit to Taiwan last week, with prosecutors suggesting a 14-month jail sentence.
Zhang was allegedly jostled by Wang and several pro-independence supporters during a private visit to Tainan’s Confucius Temple. In the melee, Zhang fell to the ground and was slightly injured.
“Video footage from the scene proves that Wang pushed Zhang and that made him fall. The actions of Wang and his supporters damaged Taiwan’s image,” Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office spokesman Lee Ching-wen (李靜文) said.
Six of Wang’s supporters present at the protest on Oct. 21 were also indicted.
Wang was indicted on charges of intimidation and assault.
Prosecutors also said that Lin Chin-hsun (林進勳), who jumped on the roof of Zhang’s car, should receive an eight-month sentence; while Tu Yung-nan (杜永南), Tseng Chao-chi (曾朝枝), Wu Ping-chin (伍平進) and Wang Chen-juei (王貞瑞) should be given six months each for trying to block Zhang’s car by standing in front of it.
Seventy-year-old Ho Kuei-hua (何桂花) was indicted for trying to attack Zhang by hitting his car with a crutch.
Prosecutors asked for a six-month sentence for her.
The six were indicted on charges of intimidation and interference and for “overthrowing” democratic values.
“Obviously, politics are interfering with our judicial system. The authorities have taken advantage of this incident to flatter the Chinese government, especially as it took less than one week for prosecutors to wrap up the case,” Wang said.
Wang made his remarks after learning of his indictment yesterday morning. He said he would cooperate and help prosecutors with their investigation, but accused prosecutor Su Tsung-jung (蘇聰榮), who is leading the case, of allowing politics to influence his actions.
“ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) is visiting Taiwan next week. I will still organize my supporters in protest at his visit, as I am afraid we will not have the chance to do so in future,” Wang said.
The DPP caucus also criticized the indictments at a press conference at the legislature yesterday morning.
“Shame on you,” DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) said before leaving the room.
“This is such a nice gift for China before Chen’s visit,” DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) asked prosecutors to prove they could be as efficient in other cases by completing their investigation and making indictments in the alleged blackmailing of Wang by gangsters.
“This [Wang’s indictment] was wrapped up in just nine days. We hope to see somebody indicted for blackmailing Wang within nine days as well,” she said.
At a separate press conference at DPP headquarters, the party requested that the video footage used for the indictment be made public.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
WAR’S END ANNIVERSARY: ‘Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,’ the president said on social media after attending a morning ceremony Countries should uphold peace, and promote freedom and democracy, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as Taiwan marked 80 years since the end of World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and other top officials in the morning attended a ceremony at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) to honor those who sacrificed their lives in major battles. “Taiwanese are peace-loving. Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,” Lai wrote on Facebook afterward, apparently to highlight the contrast with the military parade in Beijing marking the same anniversary. “We
RSS