MAC suggests China may be involved in attack on Japanese commentator

Taipei, July 6 (CNA) A man from Hong Kong suspected of punching Akio Yaita after the Taiwan-based political commentator gave a speech in Taichung on Monday has been arrested, triggering suspicions that China may have been in some way involved.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan's top government agency handling cross-Taiwan Strait affairs, said later Monday that after learning of the attack, it immediately alerted relevant agencies that the case "could involve transnational repression."

Yaita, CEO of the Indo-Pacific Strategic Thinktank, was invited to speak at an event organized by the Spring Rain Foundation at a hotel in Taichung on Monday.

After finishing his speech around noon, he was making a phone call in the hotel lobby when he was punched in the face by a man dressed in black, according to Yaita's account to the media after reporting the case to police.

• Man suspected of assaulting Japanese CEO of Taipei think tank arrested

Police identified a 33-year-old suspect surnamed Liu (廖) after reviewing surveillance footage and arrested him at Taichung International Airport at around 4 p.m., as he was allegedly attempting to board a flight to Busan, South Korea.

MAC said the case bore "strong similarities" to two earlier paint attacks on Taiwan-based Hong Kong activist Tong Wai-hung's (湯偉雄) Muay Thai studio in Taipei.

In those two cases, two Hongkongers allegedly vandalized the studio in November 2025 and February 2026, respectively, before leaving Taiwan shortly after the attacks.

"We highly suspect that external forces exploited the convenience with which Hongkongers can travel to Taiwan to carry out a 'hit-and-run' attack and quickly leave the country after committing the crime," MAC said.

Currently, Hong Kong passport holders can apply online for an entry permit allowing them to stay in Taiwan for up to 30 days, a process far simpler than that for Chinese passport holders, who are subject to tighter entry restrictions.

MAC described the attack as the "first case of transnational repression" in Taiwan since China's Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law took effect on July 1, saying the government would not take the case lightly and would punish the perpetrator severely.

It remains unclear how the attack is linked to the new law, directed primarily at "forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation," given that Yaita is ethnically Japanese, though he has frequently made comments critical of China in recent years as a political commentator.

Meanwhile, Kazuyuki Katayama, chief representative of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association's Taipei office, said violence targeting speech "must never be tolerated," referring to local media reports of the attack on Yaita.