HK gang member pleads guilty to assaulting Yaita

• By Chen Chien-chih / Staff reporter

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A member of a Hong Kong triad on Tuesday pleaded guilty to assaulting Indo-Pacific Strategy Think Tank CEO Akio Yaita in Taichung in July, in what prosecutors described as a paid attack intended to intimidate political commentators.

Appearing at a hearing at the Taichung District Court, Liu Kong-faat (廖港發), a 33-year-old ranking member of the Hong Kong-based Wo Shing Wo (和勝和) triad, pleaded guilty to charges of assault, public insult, public threat and participation in a criminal organization.

Liu requested that the court process his case through an expedited summary trial procedure, saying he wanted serve his sentence quickly and return to Hong Kong.

Police escort a suspect surnamed Liu, center, to the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office on July 7.

Photo: Hsu Kuo-chen, Taipei Times

Liu is accused of punching Yaita in the face in the lobby of the Tempus Hotel in Taichung on July 6 following a lecture, leaving the journalist with jaw and lip contusions.

He then changed his clothes and attempted to flee to Busan, South Korea, but was intercepted by police at Taichung International Airport.

Prosecutors said a man using the alias Chen Wei-hao (陳偉豪) orchestrated the attack to intimidate Yaita’s over his commentary on cross-strait affairs.

The operation was designed to create a chilling effect on free speech, they said.

Chen allegedly contacted a man surnamed Ng (吳) on July 1 to form a cross-border group to carry out the attack, and Ng recruited Liu and three other men.

After two of the men backed out of the plot due to the risks involved, Ng told Liu he would be paid HK$100,000 (US$12,746) to carry out the attack, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors have issued wanted notices for the four other suspects, who fled the country.

Liao said in court he had received HK$15,000 up front.

Prosecutors had asked the court to hand down a five-year sentence, citing the attack’s highly organized nature, its threat to Taiwan’s democratic institutions and what they described at the time as Liu’s lack of remorse.

Liu’s defense attorney pleaded for leniency, saying that his client had cooperated with the investigation, is willing to reach a settlement with Yaita and has promised never to return to Taiwan after serving his sentence.

Yaita has publicly rejected a settlement.