Video footage of the confrontation showed the students heckling Yeh after the Taiwanese delegation’s dinner for Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, not during the dinner as some local Chinese-language media reported.
The students urged Yeh to apologize for his “mishap.”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday condemned the protesters and backed Yeh.
KMT spokesman Lee Chien-rong (李建榮) said Taiwan’s participation in the WHA was a big breakthrough and an achievement to be cherished but the protesters’ actions had damaged the nation’s international image.
Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池), a KMT caucus deputy secretary-general, urged the protesters not to let political wrangling overshadow participation in the WHA.
KMT legislators Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) and Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) said the students should have protested to China and the WHO for not allowing Taiwan to participate in the WHA under the name “Republic of China.”
“They protested [to Yeh] only because they were jealous [that Taiwan was able to attend the WHA]. If they wanted to heckle someone, they should heckle China,” Lee Ching-hua said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
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