Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry has condemned an attack on veteran Japanese journalist and political commentator Akio Yaita (矢板明夫), saying the case highlighted China’s use of “transnational repression.”

Yaita, who heads the Taipei-based Indo-Pacific Strategy Thinktank, was physically assaulted after attending a speaking engagement in Taichung City on Monday. The suspect, a 33-year-old Chinese national who entered Taiwan using a Hong Kong passport, was arrested the same day at Taichung International Airport before he could board a flight out of the country, according to police.

“The government absolutely will not take this kind of violence lightly,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said at a routine press conference on Tuesday, July 7.

“Police, prosecutors, and investigators will conduct an in-depth investigation, clarify the motive, and severely punish and hold accountable those involved,” he said.

Hsiao went on to say that this and similar cases show China is attempting to use threats and violence against people around the world to expand its authoritarian influence, adding that the government would not allow threats to free expression or to the security of Taiwan’s democratic society.

Hsiao also called on the international community to jointly counter China’s “abuse of transnational repression” and said the ministry would continue coordinating with relevant agencies and like-minded countries to protect Taiwanese abroad and foreign nationals in Taiwan.