Taipei police yesterday said they are investigating a Facebook user who allegedly made nine threats against Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and his family in the comment section of a Facebook post.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday posted on the social media platform about an interview Wu on Sunday gave to French journalist Wandrille Lanos for a 71-minute documentary that aired the same day on France 5.
The post cited Wu as emphasizing Taiwan’s “undeniable importance to the global economy” as the source of the world’s most advanced computer chips.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In the comment section, one user wrote nine times: “Wu’s family must be wiped out. Not one of them can be left alive, so as to prevent harm to Taiwan.”
The comments were reported to the Taipei Police Department’s Zhongzheng Precinct, which said it was investigating the user who made the threats, as they might contravene Article 305 of the Criminal Code.
The article stipulates a fine and imprisonment for any “person who threatens to cause injury to the life, body, freedom, reputation, or property of another and thereby endangers their safety.”
Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) confirmed that a user made the comments under the Facebook post and said that the ministry has been in contact with the police.
In the interview with Lanos, Wu said that Taiwanese had been inspired by Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion to bolster Taiwan’s self-defense efforts.
He also discussed Taiwan’s exclusion from global organizations such as the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization and Interpol due to pressure from China, which he said was “unreasonable,” the ministry’s news service reported.
“Although Taiwan is also denied United Nations membership, the country will not be stopped from promoting well-being around the world as a responsible member of the global community,” Wu said, citing the nation’s donations of surgical masks and other medical supplies at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wu said that frequent visits to Taiwan by French lawmakers were evidence that the two nations enjoy a close relationship, despite geographical distance.
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