Taiwan probes criminal networks after attack on comedian Huang Yi-hao
Taiwan's security chief says authorities are examining whether criminal groups involved in attacks on China critics received direction or funding from the Chinese Communist Party.
Taiwan is investigating whether organised crime networks involved in attacks on China critics were directed or funded by the Chinese Communist Party, National Security Bureau chief Tsai Ming-yen said in Taipei on October 22. The scrutiny follows a September attack on comedian Huang Yi-hao, whose jokes targeted President Xi Jinping; prosecutors say an individual in mainland China paid five defendants to injure him.
Speaking to reporters at parliament, Tsai said the local networks involved in such incidents are mostly criminal gangs or private investigation firms linked to organised crime. The bureau's focus is on who may be behind those networks, he said, and on dismantling the groups. Whether anyone was acting on Chinese Communist Party instructions or receiving its funding remains under investigation.
What prosecutors allege in the Huang Yi-hao attack
New Taipei prosecutors said on October 21 that a person in mainland China identified as ‘K’ paid five defendants to hurt Huang badly enough to require hospital treatment, The Guardian reported. Prosecutors said two defendants drove into his scooter as he rode home on September 11. Huang was left with a bruised pelvis. The alleged payer's identity and any connection to Chinese authorities have not been established.
Taiwan's government has accused Beijing of involvement in the attack, Reuters reported. Prosecutors described the case as suspected cross-border suppression of dissenting voices. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to requests for comment on the attack, according to The Guardian, or to Reuters' request for comment on Tsai's remarks.
Huang said in a Facebook statement quoted by AFP that he had spent two and a half minutes criticising Xi on stage in Taiwan before being targeted by a faeces-throwing incident and the vehicle attack. AFP reported that two defendants admitted involvement in the plan to injure him. Those admissions do not establish who, if anyone, directed the attack from China.
Taiwan's broader concern about pressure on China critics
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said in October that at least 126 people had been affected by Chinese transnational repression, The Guardian reported. Political scientist Lev Nachman of National Taiwan University told the paper that threats and violence against Communist Party critics in Taiwan predated the Huang case, even though this attack was unusually severe.
Tsai said Taiwan might need to amend its laws to address such activities, citing gaps in the legal framework. He presented that as a possible response; no legislative change was announced. The bureau's immediate task, he said, is to investigate and dismantle the criminal network it believes may be involved.
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Sources and context
- Taiwan probes organised crime links to China's 'transnational repression'Reuters (published by The Straits Times)
- Taiwan charges five men over plot to run over comedian for his Xi Jinping jokesThe Guardian
- Taiwan charges five for attacking comedian critical of ChinaAgence France-Presse (republished by Hong Kong Free Press; page identifies this as an AFP-produced story)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.