Tainan's local court issued a four-month prison sentence to Wang Ting-yu, a lawmaker from Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who attacked a visiting mainland official last October.

The other six attackers involved in the same incident were also found guilty. The defendants can still appeal.

On Oct. 21, 2008, a mob led by Wang Ting-yu attacked Zhang Mingqing, vice chairman of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, when the latter was visiting the Confucian Temple in Tainan of Taiwan. Zhang was injured in the attack.

A week later, Tainan's inspectors accused Wang of taking a leading role in the attack and causing injuries to the mainland official, and demanded a 14-month jail term, while the remaining six defendants were accused of threatening by force and bringing prejudice to the freedom of others.

(Xinhua News Agency September 22, 2009)