Prosecutors in New Taipei charged five men on Wednesday, 21 October, over a plan to injure comedian Huang Yi-hao, and two of the five have admitted guilt.
K allegedly promised NT$450,000 (about US$13,900) for injuries serious enough to require hospitalisation, and the scooter was struck on 11 September.
Two men threw paint and faeces at a Taipei comedy club in May, and they face charges of threats and property damage.
The Mainland Affairs Council and the foreign ministry called the plot a malicious attempt to impose political silence and promised prosecutions.
On Wednesday, 21 October, prosecutors in New Taipei charged five men over a plan to injure Huang Yi-hao, a comedian known for jokes about Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Prosecutors say the men, identified only by their surnames, were paid by a man from mainland China known as 'K' to stage a fake traffic accident and break the comedian's arms and legs so that he could not perform. The planned target was a show scheduled for 20 September. According to Público, the indictment seeks prison terms ranging from two years and seven months to five years and six months for attempting to inflict serious bodily harm, among other offences. Two of the five defendants have admitted guilt, the Taipei Times reported.
Prosecutors say K asked one suspect to gather personal information about the comedian and to cause injuries serious enough to require hospitalisation. According to Taiwan's Central News Agency, a GPS tracker was attached to Huang's scooter in July, and the suspects followed his movements through August. On 11 September, two defendants allegedly drove into Huang as he rode home, then stopped when they heard him cry out. He suffered only minor injuries, reportedly a bruised pelvis, and the group later feigned help with paperwork for an insurance claim to send K a photo of his medical certificate. K allegedly refused to pay the full NT$450,000 (about US$13,900) because the injuries were minor, although one suspect had already received NT$250,000 after passing on surveillance details.
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In May, two men threw paint and faeces at the entrance of a Taipei comedy club hours before Huang was due to perform, and they face charges of threats and property damage. Huang told CNA that his first thought after the car veered toward him was whether the CCP was after him. He later wrote on Facebook that he had mocked Xi for only about two and a half minutes on stage before being targeted, and he asked how free speech could survive if the CCP ever ran the island. On Wednesday he reposted a clip from December 2025 in which he compared Xi to Winnie-the-Pooh and criticised Beijing's policies on Hong Kong, Covid and the property market. He also said the car's occupants got out, apologised and invited him to get in, an offer he turned down.
The Mainland Affairs Council, which handles Taiwan's policy toward mainland China, and the foreign ministry condemned the intimidation as a malicious attempt to impose political silence. The council promised to prosecute residents who accept orders or payments from foreign hostile forces, and it said it would punish them harshly. Taipei has repeatedly accused Beijing of transnational repression against critics on the island, which the Chinese government claims as its own territory. Requests for comment sent to Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office went unanswered at the time of reporting.
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New Taipei prosecutors allege a mainland Chinese man known as K paid five suspects to hurt comedian Huang Yi-hao, who mocks Xi Jinping, in a staged traffic accident.
AI text based on reports by rmf24.pl, Observador, PÚBLICO and other publishers. Published .