Wed, Mar 12, 2003 page2

• Group condemns attack on star columnist

  ASSAULT Chin Heng-wei was walking home with his wife when he was beaten up by an assailant believed to be angry at Chin's liberal stance on cross-strait affairs

  • By Tsai Ting-I / STAFF REPORTER
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  A liberal political pressure group yesterday condemned a violent attack on Saturday that left one of its top members injured.

  Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), editor in chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine, was attacked by a man thought to be in his sixties, who Chin said may have be a military veteran, while on his way home with his wife last Saturday afternoon.

  The Taipei Society, a group founded by liberal academics, yesterday issued a statement condemning the attack, saying that the incident constituted an ethnic clash and undermined freedom of speech.

  The ugly assault occurred in southeastern Taipei's Ta-an District, a neighborhood housing a large number of elderly military veterans.

  "We appeal to society to unite to protect the freedom of speech and every single individual's personal security. Any ethnic clash that could damage democracy should be prohibited," the statement said.

  Chin reported the case to the police on Monday, after developing a headache. He said the attack lasted between five and 10 minutes, during which he was kicked and punched, and ended when passersby separated Chin and his attacker.

  Chin said that he had decided not to file a lawsuit against his assailant, who he said had called him "a disgrace to mainlanders" and "supporter of Taiwan independence" during the attack.

  The statement also said that the term "mainlander" should not be used as a label for any ethnic group in this country, which, it said, would only widen any gaps between different ethnic groups and result in more clashes between them.

  Chin, whose ancestors came from Zheijiang Province in China, has been one of the few mainlanders to publicly support Taiwan independence, through his column in the Taiwan Daily and his appearance on TV call-in shows. He is also a Taipei Times columnist.

  In a interview with reporters, Chin said, "Violence is never the right way to solve problems. Using violence will make this minority themselves look bad."

  Chin said that he will continue to insist on his personal freedom of speech and will never compromise in the face of violence.

  "I don't know what exactly the government can do, but the government has the responsibility to provide the basic human right of free speech," Chin said.

  Chang Mau-kuei (張茂桂), a noted researcher at the Institute of Sociology at the Academia Sinica, who is also a member of the Taipei Society, echoed Chin's remark saying that such violent incidents would make the public hesitate to freely express its opinions.

  The DPP also issued a statement condemning the violence yesterday afternoon, describing violence against free speech as an attack on democracy.

  "Freedom of speech is crucial to the cultivation of democracy," the DPP's statement said

  All opinions should be respected," it said.

  "We hope that this incident involving Chin Heng-wei will be the last," it said.

  As Chin pointed out, this is not the first time that attempts have been made to intimidate him.

  He has also received threats by telephone and mail.

  At the same time as one of the postal threats in July 2001, his apartment was splattered with eggs.

  The sender of the message was infuriated with Chin for "selling out."
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