Chinese nationalist threatens to burn down Shinto shrine in S. Taiwan

Arsonist plans to target Gaoshi Shrine in Pingtung to destroy Japanese 'separatist' influence in Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/15
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Chinese nationalist with an extreme dislike of Japan has reportedly declared his intent to burn down a Shinto shrine located in Taiwan’s Pingtung County this month.

In a video message initially shared on Chinese social media site Weibo, and later shared to Twitter with Japanese subtitles, the man, identified as Liu Qiang (劉強) declares that his goal is to eradicate “separatist influence” in Taiwan. His declared target is the Gaoshi Shrine (高士神社) built during the colonial period in 1939 and located on Taiwan’s Hengchun (恆春) Peninsula.

The man claims that he has committed arson unsuccessfully in both South Korea as well as Japan. He claims that he tried to set fire to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in 2011, and then tried to burn down the Japanese embassy in Korea in 2012.

The Telegraph reports that in December 2011, there was a suspected arson attempt at the “Gate of the gods” in front of the Yasukuni Shrine, although no suspect was arrested in the incident. However, the Korea Times reports that a Chinese man surnamed Liu threw four Molotov cocktails at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in January 2012.    [FULL  STORY]