Taiwanese prosecutors have charged five men in connection with a conspiracy to run over a comedian with a car after he mocked the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping, UNN reports, citing The Guardian.
Details
Taiwan has repeatedly accused China of carrying out transnational repression aimed at silencing critics on the self-governing island. Beijing considers Taiwan its territory and has pledged to seize it by force if necessary.
During one of his performances, Huang Yi-hao mocked the Chinese leader’s appearance, compared him to Winnie the Pooh and sharply criticized his political activities.
On Wednesday, prosecutors in New Taipei City said that a person from mainland China, identified as “K,” paid the five defendants to inflict injuries on Huang that would require hospitalization.
The prosecutors said: “This case concerns a serious incident in which the Chinese Communist Party is suspected of employing tactics of transnational repression. It involves the use of criminal elements in our country to suppress dissent through extreme violence.”
The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China did not respond to a request for comment.
According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, Huang’s scooter was apparently fitted with a GPS tracker several months before the attack in order to monitor his daily routine. Prosecutors said that on September 11, two of the defendants ran into Huang’s scooter as he was riding home, but stopped after hearing him cry out.
The comedian was diagnosed with a pelvic contusion. After the incident, the suspects allegedly offered to “help” process an insurance claim — in reality, they did so to obtain a photograph of Huang’s medical report and send it to the person known as “K.”
According to the statement, “K” refused to pay the full amount of 450,000 new Taiwan dollars (US$13,900; £10,370) promised to the perpetrators because Huang’s injuries turned out to be minor.
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On Wednesday, Huang posted a video recorded in December 2025. In it, he asked viewers to help him by shouting out the name of the person he was about to describe.
In his rapid-fire satirical monologue, the comedian, dressed in traditional clothing, referred to “slicked-back hair” and a “full figure,” while also criticizing policies toward Hong Kong, measures related to COVID-19 and the state of the property market. After ending his remark with an expletive, the crowd began chanting Xi’s name, then burst into applause.
In May, two people were prosecuted for scattering excrement and pouring paint at a club in Taipei — several hours before Huang’s performance.
Lev Nachman, a professor of political science at National Taiwan University, said: “It is important to remember that the case described is certainly one of the most extreme, but threats and acts of violence against critics of the Communist Party have been occurring here in Taiwan for many years.”
In October, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council reported that at least 126 people had been affected by transnational repression by the People’s Republic of China.
The Guardian contacted China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
In a post published on Wednesday, Huang wrote: “If people can be subjected to such treatment merely for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party — which does not even govern Taiwan — then can we expect the current freedom of speech to be preserved if the CCP were ever to come to power in Taiwan?”
In another Facebook post, Huang said he would not cancel his upcoming performances, although he emphasized that he was “not a hero.”
“I’m writing about this because it’s funny,” he said. “If I ever stop, it will only be because I simply get tired of it.”