Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tainan City Councilor Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) yesterday said he would file suit against China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) for threatening Taiwan.
“Chen Yunlin has on numerous occasions openly made threats against the people of Taiwan and intimated China will use force if [Taiwanese] dare to speak up for Taiwan’s sovereignty,” Wang said. “Since Taiwan is the country concerned, prosecutors can subpoena him while he is in Taiwan.”
“Prosecutors would be negligent in their work if they not to summon him for questioning,” he said.
Wang made the remarks in Tainan yesterday, as his supporters rallied around him following his indictment on Thursday. Prosecutors charged Wang with assault, hindering personal freedom and eroding public order following an incident last week when ARATS Vice Chairman Zhang Mingqing (張銘清) visited Taiwan.
Tainan prosecutors are seeking 14 months in jail for Wang.
The DPP has criticized the prosecutors’ swift indictment as a move to “appease” China ahead of Chen’s visit to Taiwan next week.
Despite the indictment, Wang yesterday said he would be in Taipei next week to protest Chen’s visit.
“The government left us no room to voice our protests,” Wang said, referring to the Taipei Municipal Police Department’s rejection of an application filed by a DPP Taipei city councilor to stage rallies on the road leading to the Grand Hotel where Chen will be staying.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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