Taiwan is the target! Publicly hired killers to commit violence on the streets. Washington scholars worry about escalation of the CCP's "transnational suppression" methods

Recently, there have been a series of public security incidents in Taiwan, such as comedians who were staged to create "fake car accidents" and Japanese commentators were attacked on the streets of Taipei. Behind the scenes, foreign forces actually paid for the murders and retaliated. These acts of violence against those who criticize Beijing have aroused high alarm among international mainstream media and Washington think tanks, who are concerned that the CCP's "transnational repression" (transnational repression) methods against Taiwan are significantly escalating.

The Associated Press published a special report on the 14th stating that in September this year, Taiwanese crosstalk and comedian Huang Yihao, who once used talk show jokes to satirize Chinese leader Xi Jinping, was involved in a premeditated fake car accident in Taipei. The prosecutor later arrested and charged five men, and found out that the mastermind behind the scenes paid about NT$450,000 through a Chinese person involved under the pseudonym "K" to pay for the murder, with the intention of seriously injuring Huang Yihao so that he could no longer perform.

In another case, Akio Yaita, a Japanese political commentator and chairman of a think tank in Taiwan, was punched and beaten outside the Lecture Hotel in Taipei in July. The Hong Kong gang member involved received a reward of 100,000 Hong Kong dollars (approximately NT$410,000) to commit the crime. After being arrested, he recently pleaded guilty.

Huang Yihao and Yaita Akio were attacked one after another, attracting international concern

Matt Brazil, a researcher at the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington think tank, analyzed to the Associated Press that the recent physical attacks against critics have "significantly exceeded" the normal level of warships and fighter jets circling Taiwan, showing that Beijing has adopted more aggressive and radical attack methods against Taiwan; if such methods are effective in Taiwan, they may be replicated in other overseas regions in the future.

Faced with the threat of transnational repression, Qiu Shaozhou, chief of the Criminal Police of the Taiwan Police Department, told the Associated Press that relevant tactics have deteriorated from early verbal harassment, splashing paint and damaging, to creating fake car accidents. The police have upgraded such cases to national security level investigation and are working closely with U.S. law enforcement authorities to pursue cross-border cases.

Reports pointed out that U.S. authorities also arrested a woman in Los Angeles in October on suspicion of being ordered by China to spy on President Lai Ching-te's son. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said it would seek to strengthen the Anti-Infiltration Law to prevent hostile foreign forces from using local collaborators to endanger national security.

In contrast to Taiwan's serious approach to the international community, China's Taiwan Affairs Office previously denied involvement in Huang Yihao's case, accusing Taiwanese officials of stigmatizing "transnational suppression" and once said that the attack on Akio Yaita was a general security incident out of "righteous indignation."

However, Huang Yihao, who now requires police escort for every performance, told the Associated Press that Beijing's intention is very clear, which is to warn everyone that criticizing the Chinese government and leaders must pay a price, "and wants you to shut up and accept reunification."