TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Newly elected New Power Party (NPP) legislator-at-large and mother of a murdered child, Claire Wang (王婉諭), on Monday (Jan. 13) appeared at a police station to file charges against two online supporters of Kaohsiung mayor and former KMT presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) for cyberbullying.
At a press conference in front of the Neihu Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department, Wang said that after her election victory became official on Saturday (Jan. 11), many friends sent screenshots of menacing messages that Han fans had posted on her Facebook page. She said the content contained many disturbing words, including threats of bodily harm.
Wang said she is suing two individuals: one, surnamed Wang (王) allegedly wrote, "[The election win] doesn't matter. he still has two more he can slash," reported Liberty Times. The other, surnamed Chen (陳), allegedly typed, "There are two more who can be slashed. Use [them] to make a lantern."
Chen then allegedly posted a photo of the body of Wang's daughter and wrote, "My anger is coming." Netizens were furious at the posts made by the two, and their Facebook pages have since been shut down.
Facebook comment thread started by netizen surnamed Wang.
Wang said that she noticed numerous likes below the posts and that she believed this could mean that they supported the statements. She said that she is planning on pressing charges against the pair for threatening and endangering public safety (恐嚇危害安全罪), reported CNA.
Wang said that since she has become a public figure, such abusive language has been nonstop. She said that if the public wants to critique her, they should focus on her performance in the Legislative Yuan.
She said that although she firmly believes in freedom of speech, such a privilege cannot be unlimited. Wang said she is filing suit to let netizens know that "They should be held responsible for their words and deeds," reported CNA.
On March 28, 2016, Wang's 4-year-old daughter, nicknamed "Little Light Bulb" (小燈泡) was riding her bike just a few meters in front of her Wang on a Taipei street, when a man named Wang Ching-yu (王景玉), then 33, suddenly grabbed her behind and slashed her neck with a knife. Her mother tried to stop Wang, but he fended her off as he decapitated the little girl.
Bottom Facebook comment posted by netizen surnamed Chen.
In May of 2017, judges at the Shilin District Court determined that Wang suffered from schizophrenia and that based on provisions of the United Nations he could not be sentenced to death. Dissatisfied with the court's decision, Wang and her husband Liu Ta-ching (劉大經) appealed the life sentence while seeking the death penalty, and the second trial is currently underway.
In 2019, Wang decided to run as a legislator on the platform of education reform and strengthening the death penalty. On Nov. 13, the NPP announced that she was on its list of 12 legislator-at-large candidates.
Under Taiwan's constitution, only legislator-at-large candidates from parties that exceed 5 percent of the party-list votes can be elected to Taiwan's legislature. Those at the top of the list have a higher chance of being selected by proportional representation.
According to NPP rules, legislator-at-large candidates are voted for online by party members, with those receiving a simple majority vote being officially approved. Wang placed third on the list, and as the NPP received 7.7 percent of the national party votes on Saturday, it was allowed to allocate three legislators-at-large in the Legislative Yuan and she was given a seat in the governing body.
