A Chinese businessman was on Monday night deported following his arrest for vandalizing a “Lennon wall” in Taichung, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday.
Taichung police turned the 35-year-old man, surnamed Hu (胡), over to prosecutors for tearing down posters and messages supporting Hong Kong pro-democracy protests from a wall in an underground passageway on Mei-tsun Road on Sunday.
The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said that it granted Hu deferred prosecution, but ordered him to donate NT$30,000 to charity and receive instruction on the rule of law before being allowed to leave the nation.
However, he would be barred from leaving and required to report to authorities every day until his case was resolved, the office said.
The National Immigration Agency on Monday ordered Hu forcibly deported and said that he would not be allowed to return to Taiwan for five years from that date.
Before Hu flew out from Taichung International Airport, he was given a 30-minute talk by a Taichung prosecutor on the rule of law and Taiwan’s status as a nation that protects freedom of speech and adheres to the rule of law.
“I understand I am wrong,” Hu told the prosecutor afterward, adding that he understood Taiwan’s regulations before paying the fine.
The Wuhan native had a business visa for a one-week visit, investigators said.
It is not clear what kind of business he is involved in.
Chen Chih-hou (陳致豪), creator of the Lennon wall, said on Facebook that Taiwanese cannot tolerate the use of violence to harm freedom of speech.
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