TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) return from his trip to China, a member of Ma’s entourage is now under scrutiny for a post shared on social media.
On Saturday (April 8), Liao Yuan-Hao (廖元豪), a law professor at National Chengchi University (NCCU) and a friend of Ma, shared a photo of himself outside of Shanghai Pudong International Airport. The photo, posted to Facebook, shows Liao pretending to kick a police car and was captioned with the phrase "A counterattack on the mainland" (反攻大陸).
The full text of the photo was “Facing down a public security police car with ‘A counter attack on the mainland.’ After taking the photo, I realized there was someone inside.” The post also included three other photos, including one of Liao seated with Ma on the plane they took to return to Taipei on Friday (April 7).
The photo quickly went viral after the post was also shared by netizens on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, reported UDN. Liao deleted the post several hours later.
On Sunday (April 9), Liao made another post on Facebook in which he issued an apology for sharing the photo and caption. He said he was being too playful and did not consider the consequences of sharing the photo and caption.
After reflecting on his behavior, Liao said he recognized his behavior was “disrespectful,” and that as a professor, he should not behave as a child. He apologized to the officers in the vehicle and thanked law enforcement officers in China, Taiwan, the U.S. and other places, for doing their duty to protect people and maintain safety.
He went on to say that he hopes for increased understanding and dialogue between Taiwan and China. He concluded his post with a promise to be more considerate of the feelings of the Chinese people.
Screenshot of the controversial social media post. (Screengrab)
