Renowned Taiwanese commentator Akio Yaita was assaulted by an unknown individual after giving a speech in Taichung on the 6th.
Yaita, whose political stance is pro-Green, is a Taiwan-based Japanese media figure. Police have intervened to investigate the incident.
According to consolidated reports from Taiwanese media, Akio Yaita was invited as a lecturer for "NEXT CITY｜Spring Rain Creation Action Camp - Forward to New Taichung," an event organized by the Chunyu Cultural and Educational Foundation, and gave a speech at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Taichung.
Reports indicate that after finishing his speech and leaving the hotel, Yaita was followed by a man wearing a black baseball cap and black clothes. The man called out to Yaita and then punched him in the face before fleeing the scene.
Yaita suffered a split and bleeding lip, and blood stains on tissue paper can be seen in footage.
In an interview, Yaita said the assailant seemed to say something before striking, but he did not clearly hear it and was then punched in the mouth by the man in black.
He quoted hotel staff as saying that the man in black had stayed at the hotel from all day Sunday to Monday morning, apparently lying in wait for him, and it did not appear to be a case of mistaken identity or a sudden conflict.
Yaita believes that, judging by the assailant's calm demeanor during the attack, it is suspected that he may be involved in organized crime.
He emphasized that violence should not be tolerated for any reason, and if it was because of his opinions or statements, resorting to violence is absolutely unacceptable, especially in a free and democratic Taiwan.
He stated that he will not change his stance on expressing his opinions as a result of this violent incident.
Akio Yaita is a Taiwanese-Japanese journalist who was previously chief of the Taipei bureau of Japan's Sankei Shimbun. He was born into a Japanese repatriate family from China, grew up in Tianjin, and moved to Japan with his family at age 15. As an adult, he worked as a correspondent in Beijing for 10 years, acquiring deep insights on Mainland China issues; he then was stationed in Taiwan for many years and officially became a Taiwanese citizen in 2024. He is also the founder of the "Indo-Pacific Strategic Think Tank."