Woman sanctioned after attacking author's wife during recall campaign

Taipei, July 12 (CNA) A 73-year-old woman has been placed under residence restriction after allegedly assaulting the partner of award-winning author Yang Shuang-zi (楊双子) during a recall campaign event in New Taipei on Friday.

The victim, Lai Ting-ho (賴庭荷), was volunteering at a street campaign event when the suspect, surnamed Su (蘇), allegedly shouted at her, tried to grab her phone, and struck her on the jaw and hand, according to police. Officers at the scene intervened and took Su into custody.

Prosecutors later charged Su with assault, intimidation, coercion, making public insults, and violating election laws. She has been ordered not to move residence until the case is resolved.

Yang, whose translated work Taiwan Travelogue (臺灣漫遊錄) won the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature last year, condemned the incident in a statement posted Saturday.

"Many attackers mistakenly believe they are acting in the name of justice by targeting recall campaigners. This is a fundamental misunderstanding,"she wrote.

Yang said Lai had been involved in the recall effort for over six months and was aware of the risks, including verbal abuse and potential physical harm, but was still deeply shaken by the attack.

Taiwan has seen an unprecedented wave of recall initiatives aimed at Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers elected in the January 2024 Legislative election. These follow opposition-led moves to expand the power of the Legislature to review government actions, change the rules for Constitutional Court rulings, and make cuts to the general budget proposed by the government.