Politics

Five Men Charged in Taiwan for Plot to Attack Comedian Who Criticised Xi Jinping

By Guardian staff reporter

Taiwanese prosecutors have charged five men with planning to ram a car into comedian Huang Yi‑hao after he mocked the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping. The charges were announced by prosecutors in New Taipei on Wednesday. According to the indictment, a mainland Chinese individual identified as “K” paid the five defendants to inflict injuries on Huang that would require hospitalisation. Prosecutors said the case involves a serious incident in which the Chinese Communist Party is suspected of using cross‑border suppression tactics to direct lawless elements in Taiwan to silence dissenting voices through extreme violence.

A GPS tracker was allegedly placed on Huang’s scooter months before the attack, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency. On 11 September, two defendants drove a vehicle into Huang’s bike as he rode home, but stopped after hearing him scream. The comedian suffered a bruised pelvis. The suspects then allegedly pretended to help with an insurance claim and sent a photo of Huang’s medical certificate to K. K refused to pay the full NT$450,000 (US$13,900; £10,370) promised to the suspects because Huang’s injuries were only minor.

Huang posted a video from December 2025 in which he asked the audience to shout the name of the person he was about to describe. In the clip, the comedian, dressed in a traditional gown, criticised policies on Hong Kong, Covid and the property market, and after finishing with an expletive, the crowd chanted Xi’s name before applauding.

In May, two people were prosecuted for spreading faeces and paint at a Taipei club hours before a Huang show. Lev Nachman, a professor of political science at National Taiwan University, said that threats and acts of violence against critics of the Communist Party have occurred in Taiwan for many years.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said in October that at least 126 individuals had been affected by Chinese transnational repression. The Guardian has contacted the Chinese foreign ministry for comment.

In a post on Wednesday, Huang said, “If people can be subjected to this kind of treatment simply for criticising the Chinese Communist Party when it does not even govern Taiwan, how can we expect to retain our current freedom of speech if the CCP were ever to rule Taiwan?” He also said he would not cancel future performances but that he was “no hero”. “I write it because it’s funny,” he added. “If I stop, it will only be because I’ve got bored of it.”