Four men who are facing charges for their alleged involvement in an attack on a pro-protest restaurant in Taiwan told authorities they were paid by a mainland Chinese financier.
Apple Daily reported Monday that the motive of the person who assigned them to the task—surnamed Chen—is unclear.
The four men are being held for their reported role in last month’s attack at Aegis, a “yellow” restaurant in Taipei that hires Hongkongers who participated in the city’s protests last year and are seeking refuge in the territory.
According to media, a masked man barged into the restaurant on Oct. 16 and started flinging chicken feces out of a bucket, dirtying the shop’s interior and even covering one worker in excrement. Authorities arrested him the next day after studying CCTV footage.
Apple Daily reported that two of the other men arrived outside the restaurant beforehand to scope out the area. The role of the fourth suspect is unclear.
All four men face charges including vandalism and public insult. The man who broke into the restaurant and splashed excrement on a worker is also being investigated for one charge of humiliation.
The restaurant wrote in a Facebook post Saturday that stoves, cabinets and utensils had to be replaced, and the walls repainted, due to the attack. “Attacks will only make us stronger; and intimidation will drive us forward with our heads held high,” it added.
Aegis was founded by a Hong Kong lawyer hoping to provide employment for pro-democracy protesters staying in Taiwan. It opened in April this year and opened a second branch last month.
Coconuts has reached out to Aegis for comment but has not heard back at the time of writing.
This isn’t the first time that pro-democracy voices have been targeted in Taiwan. Lam Wing-kee, who in 2015 was one of five kidnapped in Hong Kong for selling controversial books critical of Beijing, reopened his bookstore in Taipei in April this year.
Read more: An interview with Lam Wing-kee, the Hong Kong bookseller who stood up to China
Days before the opening, he was splashed with red paint by an unknown assailant while having breakfast at a cafe.
In an interview with Apple Daily, he said he was not surprised that Chinese influence was behind the two crimes, adding that it is “too risky for them to come to Taiwan themselves so they paid Taiwanese people to do it.”
Aegis said on Facebook that they plan to reopen this coming Wednesday after a three-week closure.
“Attacks will only make us stronger; and intimidation will drive us forward with our heads held high,” the restaurant wrote.
Reader Interactions