Akio Yaita’s point of view》The Korean restaurant was smashed and the attack in Taichung looked at the cross-border “hit and run” violence

◎ Akio Yaita

A very bizarre and noteworthy thing happened in South Korea recently.

There is a Chinese restaurant in Seongnam, a suburb of Seoul, called "Xi Jinping." The boss said that he chose this name eight years ago because Xi Jinping is the supreme leader of China and he hopes that his Chinese cuisine can also be the first.

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In the early morning of September 24, four Chinese men wearing hats and masks broke into the "Xi Jinping" restaurant in Seoul and vandalized it for nearly an hour. (Taken from the post) Frankly speaking, the taste of naming the restaurant "Xi Jinping" is really unflattering. However, the boss probably didn't expect that it would cause big trouble. Before and after South Korea hosted APEC last year, the boss kept receiving calls asking him to remove the word "Xi Jinping", but he never agreed.

In the early morning of September 24, four Chinese men wearing hats and masks broke into the restaurant and vandalized it for nearly an hour, spraying paint and destroying equipment and ingredients. After committing the crime, he quickly went to Incheon Airport and took flights back to China in batches the same day.

These people don't seem to be doing it on the spur of the moment. They entered South Korea one after another, deliberately covering their faces when committing crimes, and leaving the country immediately after completion. From entry, preparation, committing the crime to retreat, the whole process is very much like a planned "hit and run".

When I saw this news, I immediately remembered what I experienced in Taichung on July 6 this year.

At that time, the man who attacked me entered Taiwan with a Hong Kong passport. He waited near the hotel where I was giving a speech. After confirming the target, he suddenly took action. After that, he quickly left, changed his clothes, and went straight to Taichung International Airport to prepare to take a flight out of the country. Fortunately, the Taichung police responded very quickly and stopped him before the plane took off.

The author shared that a restaurant named "Xi Jinping" in Seoul, South Korea, was recently broken into and vandalized by four Chinese men late at night. The method of committing the crime was very similar to the attack on him in July this year. (Taken from X) Of course, the two things cannot be directly equated. There is currently no evidence that the Chinese government or a specific organization was behind the incident in South Korea.

However, the two do have one disturbing thing in common: multiple people enter the country, commit crimes in a prepared manner, and quickly leave the country after completing their "mission."

If the thugs who attacked me on July 6 managed to get on a plane, it would be much more difficult for the Taiwanese police to track down the truth. This time, all four people who committed crimes in South Korea have returned to China. Even if the South Korean police obtain an arrest warrant, it will not be easy to bring them back for trial.

This is where "hit and run" is most noteworthy.

Democratic countries open their borders, guarantee freedom, and pay attention to judicial procedures. But if someone takes advantage of these systems and comes across the border to commit violence and intimidation, and then returns to a place where justice is difficult to pursue after committing the crime, then this is no longer just an ordinary security case.

If this kind of thing happens one after another, the international community cannot treat each case as a separate criminal case.

The liberal democratic camp should jointly condemn this cross-border violence and establish a more effective cooperation mechanism so that "hit and run" cannot continue to evade legal sanctions.

Akio Yaita (right) was attacked by a Chinese man in the hotel lobby after giving a speech in Taichung City. (Compiled by this newspaper, provided by the public, data photo) How many political taboos there are in China is China's own business, but they must not be allowed to export these taboos and fears to other people's lands through violence.

(The author is a Japanese journalist and writer in Taiwan)

This article is reprinted with permission from Akio Yaita’s Facebook page