Kaohsiung police yesterday used an IP address to locate a New Taipei City man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), who allegedly posted threatening messages against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung City Councilor Lin Chih-hung (林智鴻) for criticizing Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) at last week’s council meeting.
Police officers said they had also found that the IP address of a netizen who had threatened to kill the family of DPP Kaohsiung City Councilor Cheng Meng-ju (鄭孟洳) originated from China.
An investigation team from Kaohsiung’s Fongshan Police Precinct went to Tsai’s residence in New Taipei’s City’s Sanchong District (三重) to question him about the complaint filed by Lin on Friday last week.
Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Taipei Times
Tsai, 51, has been charged with intimidation after he allegedly admitted to sending the threatening messages.
Tsai said he got angry after watching news reports of Lin at the city council asking Han about his visit to China and denouncing Beijing’s proposed “one country, two systems” model for Taiwan.
Lin said he spoke for most Taiwanese who could never accept the “one country, two systems” model and questioned Han’s meeting with Chinese officials at the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong.
Lin then asked Han to present a special report to the council explaning what he had said during the various meetings with Chinese officials and what political stance he had taken at the time so that Kaohsiung residents would know what was going on.
After that incident, people left negative and disparaging messages on Lin’s Facebook page, with one writing: “I will keep my eyes on you and your kind, who are worse than animals. You shall see what will happen next,” and “another saying: “You are shameless. When you are disgraced and your reputation ruined, you will only have yourself to blame.”
Lin said he had filed a complaint to uphold “our value for freedom.”
“There is a bottom line for freedom of speech. It should not engage in personal insults, threats, intimidation and violence,” he said.
Cheng said she was also bombarded with derogatory messages after she questioned Han.
A person surnamed Jiang (江) posted on Facebook: “Let us wait and see. I will kill your parents, then kill all your family members.”
Cheng urged Han to rein in his so-called “Han Kuo-yu fan club” members, who have bought into the personality cult of Han and threaten anyone who dare criticize him.
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