Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200810/20081031/article_378908.htm
Councilor indicted for inciting mob to attack
Created: 2008-10-31 1:10:44
A local councilor in Taiwan was indicted yesterday for rallying a mob to attack a visiting mainland scholar, prosecutors said.
Wang Ting-yu, a Democratic Progressive Party councilor of Tainan City in southern Taiwan, faces a 14-month jail term if found guilty on charges of assault and being a "principal plotter" of inciting the mob.
The visiting scholar, Zhang Mingqing, dean of journalism at Xiamen University in Fujian Province, was shoved to the ground during a tour of a Confucius temple in the south of Taiwan last week.
When Zhang was leaving the temple, a rioter jumped onto his vehicle's roof. Others beat the car with flag poles.
Zhang, also deputy chief of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, was visiting the island at the invitation of National Taiwan University of Arts.
The local prosecutor indicted Wang and others for "causing social turbulence" and for "pushing over democratic values and trampling human rights and the rule of law," which hinders democratic progress, according to Taiwan media.
The other six suspects allegedly involved in the assault also face jail terms of six to eight months if convicted.
Prosecutors allege Wang targeted Zhang's title as ARATS deputy chief to cause the social unrest.
The incident comes ahead of a visit by the ARATS chief Chen Yunlin, who will lead a 60-member delegation for economic talks in Taipei from November 3 to 7.
Wang Ting-yu, a Democratic Progressive Party councilor of Tainan City in southern Taiwan, faces a 14-month jail term if found guilty on charges of assault and being a "principal plotter" of inciting the mob.
The visiting scholar, Zhang Mingqing, dean of journalism at Xiamen University in Fujian Province, was shoved to the ground during a tour of a Confucius temple in the south of Taiwan last week.
When Zhang was leaving the temple, a rioter jumped onto his vehicle's roof. Others beat the car with flag poles.
Zhang, also deputy chief of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, was visiting the island at the invitation of National Taiwan University of Arts.
The local prosecutor indicted Wang and others for "causing social turbulence" and for "pushing over democratic values and trampling human rights and the rule of law," which hinders democratic progress, according to Taiwan media.
The other six suspects allegedly involved in the assault also face jail terms of six to eight months if convicted.
Prosecutors allege Wang targeted Zhang's title as ARATS deputy chief to cause the social unrest.
The incident comes ahead of a visit by the ARATS chief Chen Yunlin, who will lead a 60-member delegation for economic talks in Taipei from November 3 to 7.
Xinhua
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