Tainan City Councilor Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said on Wednesday that he would appeal a sentence of four months in prison after he was convicted for harassing a visiting Chinese official in an incident that was widely televised last year.
“I have decided to appeal the sentence handed down to me by the Tainan District Court because I did not knock Zhang Mingqing (張銘清) to the ground,” Wang told reporters.
The Tainan District Court announced its verdict against Wang on Sept. 21.
When the incident occurred on Oct. 21 last year, Zhang, vice chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), was visiting Taiwan to attend an academic seminar in Tainan in his capacity as an academic.
Wang was accused of pushing Zhang to the ground to protest his private visit to the city’s Confucius Temple that day. Wang led a group of independence activists who accosted Zhang.
Zhang, who suffered minor bruises, was rushed to a Tainan hospital. He filed a complaint with local authorities and immediately returned to China, cutting short his visit to Taiwan.
Wang said he did not push Zhang, and that Chinese official simply lost his balance.
Six other accomplices were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 40 days to four months after being indicted on charges of hindering personal freedom, but all of them have the option of paying a fine instead of serving their prison terms.
Wang said he had been soliciting donations for his six companions and that he would use the money to help them pay their fines so they wouldn’t have to serve prison sentences.
Zhang’s visit preceded that of ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), the highest-ranking Chinese envoy to visit Taiwan in 60 years.
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