Taiwan condemns assault on diplomat by Chinese personnel in Fiji

Chinese embassy officers wanted to photograph people attending Taiwan’s National Day celebrations in Fiji, in order to track and possibly trap them for aiding Taipei. Taiwanese politicians demand legal action against the brazen attack on their foreign officer, who was rushed to the hospital

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New Delhi: Taking strong notice of the incident which saw a Taiwanese diplomat being assaulted and injured, Taipei’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) condemned the actions of the Chinese embassy and its personnel. The statement released by the MoFA was quickly followed by the demand pressed by Taiwanese public representatives to file a lawsuit against Beijing’s foreign mission for attacking Taipei’s foreign officer.

As per reports, two members of the Chinese embassy in Suva tried to forcibly enter the National Day celebration staged by the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji at the Grand Pacific Hotel on October 8. The Chinese personnel, who according to some analysts were officers from their political intelligence desk tried to capture photographs of the 100 people attending the party.

Realizing their intent at the venue, hotel security staff, and a Taiwanese diplomat asked them to leave. However, irked over being asked to vacate the area, the Chinese personnel brazenly attacked the Taiwanese diplomat. The assault caused the Taiwanese diplomat to be rushed to the nearest hospital for a head injury.

Speaking to media representatives on 19 October, MOFA Spokesperson and Director-General, Public Diplomacy Coordination Council Joanne Ou said that the Chinese diplomats were forced to leave the reception venue by Fijian police following the confrontation, but they tried to muddy the waters by saying that they were attacked first.

“Taiwan was a peace-loving country that invited people to events around the world for its Oct. 10 national day, which marks the founding of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name,” Ou said while insisting that going forward Taiwan ‘will continue to hold national day receptions, and this will not change.

“China can spread as many lies as it likes but Taiwan will not pay too much attention. The reality is this year we had 108 offices hold national day events in different ways, inviting the world to celebrate our birthday,” Ou voiced. She added that the MOFA has asked their Fijian counterparts and law enforcement to collect evidence to clarify the facts, and also delivered a stern protest to the Fijian ministry against the Chinese embassy.

“In view of the increasing number of provocative actions by Chinese diplomats against Taiwan, MOFA has asked its office in Fiji to stay in close contact with local police as part of efforts to bolster security at other events,” she said.

Meanwhile, at the question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Mark Ho pressed the demand for legal action.

He identified the assault on Taipei’s foreign officer as an ‘international incident of great severity.’ “The Chinese embassy in Fiji should not be able to claim diplomatic immunity, as it only applies to civil cases, and the incident was a criminal case,” Ho said.

Echoing into the concerns raised by Ho, the DPP censured the actions of the Chinese personnel. Party’s spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-fen referred to the belligerent behavior of Chinese personnel as ‘violent acts that are a serious breach of civility and the rule of law.’

Also Read: Taiwanese Media Castigates Blatant Chinese Spy Accusations

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) also condemned the assault, demanding that Beijing publicly apologize to the injured Taiwanese diplomat and severely punish its diplomats, while calling on the government to lodge a protest against Beijing through the proper channels.

Speaking to TheNews21, a security analyst said that the attempts to capture photographs of people visiting the Taiwanese celebrations were done to document these individuals for surveillance. “They (Chinese) would definitely have the guest list with them. The photographs were meant to be procured for matching them with the names, profiles and then put them under their monitoring. China has been known to track, tap, and trap people associated with Taiwan or aiding Taiwanese offices in foreign nations,” the analyst based in Dubai said.

Meanwhile, after international media published reports highlighting China’s undiplomatic behavior in foreign nations with Taiwan’s officers, Beijing merely denied all accusations.

A statement issued by its embassy read ‘On that very evening (October 8), the staff of the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji acted provocatively against the Chinese embassy staff, who were carrying out their official duties in the public area outside the function venue, causing injuries and damage to one Chinese diplomat.’