Five Men Indicted Over Alleged Car Plot Against Taiwanese Comedian Huang Yi-hao
Taiwanese prosecutors indicted five men on Wednesday, October 21, over an alleged plan to run the comedian Huang Yi-hao down with a car. Prosecutors say the plan was paid for by an individual from mainland China identified as "K", according to The Guardian.
The New Taipei prosecutors issued a statement on the case. According to prosecutors, K paid the five defendants to injure Huang badly enough that he would need hospitalisation. On September 11, two of the defendants drove into Huang's bike as he rode home, and they stopped after they heard him scream. Huang was left with a bruised pelvis. The suspects allegedly pretended to help him with an insurance claim so they could send a photo of his medical certificate to K.
K refused to pay the full promised sum of NT$450,000, about US$13,900, because Huang's injuries were only minor, prosecutors said.
Huang is known for political satire. In a performance, he insulted Xi Jinping's appearance, compared the Chinese leader to Winnie-the-Pooh and criticised his political record. The plot, as described by prosecutors, went beyond the car attack. According to Taiwan Public Broadcasting's RTI, prosecutors alleged that the defendants tracked Huang with a GPS device, collected his personal information and planned a staged traffic accident. Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that a GPS tracker was placed on Huang's scooter months before the attack to monitor his daily routines.
Earlier this year, Huang faced another incident. In May, two people were prosecuted for spreading faeces and paint at a Taipei club hours before a Huang show.
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, the government body that handles relations with China, said in October that at least 126 people had been affected by what it calls Chinese transnational repression, meaning pressure on people living outside China. The Taipei Times described the car attack as an alleged act of that kind.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to requests for comment on the car-ramming plot.
