Taiwan slams Beijing for 'glorifying violence' after attack on Japanese commentator

Taipei [Taiwan], July 9 (ANI): Taiwan has strongly criticised China for “glorifying” the assault on Taipei-based Japanese political commentator Akio Yaita as an act motivated by “righteous indignation”, according to the Taipei Times.

Yaita, the chief executive officer of the Taiwan-based Indo-Pacific Strategy Think Tank, was punched in the face by a Chinese man surnamed Liao in Taichung on Monday. Taiwanese authorities have speculated that the incident could involve “transnational repression” and may be linked to China’s recently implemented Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, the Taipei Times reported.

Police arrested Liao later that afternoon at Taichung International Airport while he was allegedly preparing to board a flight to Busan, South Korea.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) condemned Beijing for failing to denounce the assault and instead portraying it as an act driven by “righteous indignation”.

The MAC said the remarks by Chinese authorities either amounted to “a blatant lie” or an attempt to mislead the Taiwanese public.

The criticism came after China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua described the attack as an “ordinary” public security case that occurred by chance and accused Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party government of exploiting the incident for “political manipulation”. Chen also claimed Taiwan was distorting China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law to provoke cross-strait tensions, according to the Taipei Times.

The MAC said the China’s TAO has repeatedly defended suspects involved in high-profile incidents in Taiwan while accusing Taipei of “political persecution” or “political suppression”.

Separately, Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai told visiting US Senator Tammy Duckworth that China has attempted to carry out transnational repression targeting Taiwanese civil servants, judicial personnel, innocent family members and foreign nationals in Taiwan, with authorities recording 134 people threatened in 120 cases so far.

Cho said the Taiwanese government would do everything possible to protect both residents and foreign nationals, regardless of whether the attack on Yaita was an isolated act or part of an organised effort.

He also said the Executive Yuan has established an interagency coordination platform in response to China’s new ethnic unity law and hopes to continue working with the United States to counter Beijing’s cross-border pressure and “grey zone” actions. Authorities said it remains unclear whether the assault was directly linked to China’s ethnic unity law. (ANI)

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