Opinion Piece: Is the Lai Administration Deliberately Hiding the Truth About the Yorita Assault?

Yorita Akio was assaulted on July 6. He sustained only a single punch, required no hospitalization, and compared to violent incidents in Taiwan—such as the gym owner who was shot three times and hospitalized for seven days, or Lin Shih-chieh in Tainan who was fatally shot eleven times—Yorita was extremely fortunate. The attack appears to be an act of personal retribution by someone dissatisfied with Yorita’s long-standing distortion and defamation of China, and his glorification of Japan’s colonial rule over Taiwan, timed just before the July 7 anniversary of China’s resistance against Japan. The attacker, surnamed Liao, targeted a Japanese national in Taiwan and could be likened to a 'Hong Kong Liao Tianding'—a folk hero who robbed the rich to help the poor and attacked Japanese police out of moral conviction, as depicted in the Taiwanese opera 'The Righteous Spirit of Liao Tianding,' not under any external orders.

One ironclad proof that Liao is not a Chinese intelligence agent is that he was identified and arrested due to prominent tattoos on his arms. Intelligence agencies worldwide universally require operatives to have no distinguishing physical features (such as moles) to avoid easy identification. Large, visible tattoos like Liao’s violate this fundamental rule, making him ineligible for recruitment by any intelligence service globally.

The case was originally very straightforward, but the DPP government seized the opportunity to deliberately delay releasing the truth, creating space for green-aligned media to propagate narratives that Liao was executing China’s 'long-arm jurisdiction' or 'transnational repression.' By exploiting the assault on Yorita, they maliciously frame and defame the Chinese Communist Party, then redirect this smear toward the Blue and White camps, branding them as 'pro-China' and aligned with 'hostile forces' to suppress their momentum in the upcoming year-end elections.

Huang Kuo-chang criticized: 'The DPP, including the president, has exaggerated this attack while forgetting they are in power.' This is not entirely accurate. On the contrary, the DPP is using this sudden incident to drag the opposition into a mudslinging campaign, similar to the 319 shooting incident, aiming to gain electoral advantage and strengthen their governance. This serves the same purpose as the 'mass recall' movement—what they call 'eliminating impurities.'

An ugly bride must eventually face her mother-in-law. If the investigation ultimately confirms this was a lone-wolf attack, the entire green camp—from the president down to public officials and media figures—should kneel and apologize for slandering China and deceiving the Taiwanese people.

Finally, a warning to Yorita and other green-aligned figures and media: stop abusing freedom of speech to fabricate, insinuate, slander, defame, and vilify China and the Chinese Communist Party. For example, claiming Premier Li Keqiang’s death was orchestrated by Xi Jinping is utterly absurd. Recklessly provoking the Chinese people in this manner risks provoking more 'Liao Tiandings' or even 'Bruce Lees.' Just as writers and cartoonists who insulted the Prophet Muhammad placed themselves in danger, so too do those who persistently defame China.

★★ Real-World Case ★★ In 2018, a British man married to a Taiwanese woman, named Paul, had the characters 'Taiwan' tattooed on his forehead and the 'Taiwan State' flag on his chin. After getting drunk in a Cambodian bar, he argued with ten mainland Chinese workers over Taiwan’s sovereignty and was beaten with chair legs and pool cues, resulting in two broken teeth and severe facial bruising. Liberty Times published his pre-assault photo, and ETTV News showed his post-assault image—both clearly showing the tattoos. This was clearly a spontaneous attack by mainland workers, entirely unrelated to the Chinese government.

*Author is a civil judicial reform activist.