Pro-China Gangsters Jailed In Taiwan For Injuring Students

On September 24, 2017, scuffles erupted between pro-independence and pro-China demonstrators on the campus of National Taiwan University (NTU) during the Sing! China: Shanghai-Taipei Music Festival.

The event, co-sponsored by a mainland Chinese reality show and the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs, was part of the memorandums of understanding on cultural and arts events signed by Shanghai and Taipei.

Pro-independence supporters viewed the music festival as a covert tactic by the Chinese Communist regime to promote their "reunification" political agenda. Students organized protests against the event, but pro-China groups intervened and clashes broke out between the two sides.

Members of the Party for the Promotion of Chinese Unification (中華統一促進黨, PPCU), founded by the notorious Taiwanese gangster Chang An-lo, attacked pro-independence students. Three people were injured.

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In December of last year the Taipei District Prosecutors Office charged Chang An-lo's second son, Chang Wei (張瑋), PPCU member Hu Ta-kang (胡大剛), Li Po-chang (李伯璋) and other six individuals with injuring and threatening protesters.

On July 30 the Taipei District Court sentenced Chang Wei and Li Po-chang to 40 days in jail. Hu Ta-kang, who was found guilty of assaulting a student with a club, was sentenced to 5 months in prison. The other defendants were handed down jail terms ranging from 20 to 70 days. All sentences can be appealed and commuted to fines. The evidence against them included videos of the assailants taken by the victims.

Gangsters acting on the behalf of the Chinese Communist Party to subvert Taiwanese democracy from within have become a major political issue in recent years, as Beijing intensifies its "reunification" rhetoric.

In order to counter China's interference, the Taiwanese government has cracked down on criminal syndicates allegedly linked to the Communist regime. Taipei is also considering banning the public display of China's Five-star Red Flag that is often used by PPCU members as a symbol of their pro-unification agenda during demonstrations.

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