Five members of the Chinese Unity Promotion Party (CUPP) were yesterday indicted for allegedly attacking and injuring several university students during protests at a music festival in September.
The “Sing! China: Shanghai-Taipei Music Festival,” a result of memorandums of understanding on cultural and arts events signed by Taipei and Shanghai in 2010 and 2014 respectively, was scheduled to run eight hours on Sept. 24 at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) athletic field in Taipei, but was canceled after two hours due to protests by students, who said the school failed to prioritize their right to use campus facilities.
Following the cancelation, three students were allegedly assaulted by CUPP members.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted the five CUPP members on charges including assault resulting in injury, uttering threats and destruction of personal property.
The five included Chang Wei (張瑋), the second son of CUPP founder Chang An-le (張安樂), also known as the “White Wolf,” a former leader of the Bamboo Union gang who is known for supporting Taiwan’s unification with China.
The other four are Hu Ta-kang (胡大剛), Yang Shao-jui (楊紹瑞), Wang Shao-bin (王啟鑌) and Lin Shao-tse (林紹哲), who allegedly used metal rods to attack the students and protesters outside the music festival.
Prosecutors also indicted one protester, Lee Po-chang (李柏璋), who allegedly argued and fought with the CUPP members, causing facial injuries to Yang and breaking a pair of eyeglasses.
Lee, who is known for his outspoken pro-Taiwan independence views, has been nicknamed the “Machine Gun of Taiwanese Independence.”
Among the most severe casualties from the incident was NTU student Chang Keng-wei (張耿維), who was struck on the back of the head.
Investigators said that a video filmed by a bystander showed Hu approaching Chang Keng-wei from behind and striking him several times on the head and other parts of his body with a collapsible metal rod.
They added that the video showed Hu angrily confronting Lee’s girlfriend, who was filming the attack with her smartphone, telling her: “Don’t come any closer. If you do, I’ll hit you as well.”
Investigators said the video also shows Chang Wei apparently directing the attack by pointing with his hands and shouting instructions to CUPP members when they confronted the protesters outside the NTU campus.
INCREASED RISK: The Omicron BA.2.75 subvariant has higher immune evasive capacity, but the CECC is more concerned about newer subvariants such as XBB and BQ.1 With the peak season for infectious respiratory diseases coming to an end, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that details of the next phase of lifting COVID-19 masking rules — removing the mask requirement in most indoor settings — are to be announced this week. Discussions on lifting other COVID-19 restrictions are also being held, including further easing border control measures, home isolation requirements and revising the definition for reporting cases, while also downgrading COVID-19 to a lower category of notifiable communicable disease, said Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC. As the daily
GUT FEELING: In the leaked memo, US Air Force General Mike Minihan urged mobile command personnel to go to a firing range, shoot at a target and ‘aim for the head’ A four-star US Air Force general has warned of a conflict with China as early as 2025 — most likely over Taiwan — and urged his commanders to push their units to achieve maximum operational battle readiness this year. In an internal memorandum that first emerged on social media on Friday, and was later confirmed as genuine by the Pentagon, Air Mobility Command Commander General Mike Minihan said that the main goal should be to deter “and, if required, defeat” China. “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025,” Minihan said. Minihan said that Taiwan’s presidential election
PEACE AND STABILITY: The two nations called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Taiwan Strait issues through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked France and Australia for voicing their support for Taiwan, saying that peace across the Taiwan Strait is crucial to the stability and prosperity of international society. France and Australia on Monday pledged to deepen ties with Taiwan and reiterated their support for its participation in international organizations at this year’s Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations in Paris. The meeting between French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) and Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles was the second
DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM: Czech president-elect Petr Pavel said his nation stands firmly on the side of democracy and would boost cooperation with Taipei in all aspects Czech president-elect Petr Pavel spoke by telephone with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday, a highly unusual move given the lack of formal ties and a diplomatic coup for Taipei. Tsai spoke with Pavel for 15 minutes in a harmonious atmosphere, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said, adding that Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was also present during the conversation. Lin quoted Pavel as telling Tsai that Taiwan is a trustworthy partner, adding that the Czech Republic stands firmly on the side of democracy and supports Taiwan in maintaining a lively democratic system free from authoritarian coercion. The Czech Republic would