Another thing that''s making this case rather interesting is the amount of interest it has generated across the Taiwan Strait, in Mainland China.
Now, the mass demonstration happened after the Defense Minister was forced to resign, and several military personnel were indicted. Taiwan''s president Ma Ying-jeou has also apologized profusely over the incident, pledging to uncover the truth.
For Chinese netizens, this kind of response is already unimaginably beyond how their own officials would''ve reacted. Recently a fruit vendor in China was beaten to death by city patrol officers, and state-run Global time issued an editorial urging the media not criticize the local government.
Chinese netizens were also more than impressed that 200,000 Taiwanese people took to the streets and were able to hold up signs calling the government "scum". Then, when President Ma attended the Hung''s funeral proceedings on Sunday, mourners heckled him and told him to climb into the coffin. Unmoved, Ma told the security guards not to push away the protestors. Ma was also denied a handshake by Hung''s sister.
All of this was a huge eye opener for ordinary Chinese citizens. The Taiwanese protestors do not have to worry about retribution for heckling the head of state; Hung''s sister had no qualms about making Ma Ying-yeou lose face by not shaking his hand; and all these people got together simply to pursue the truth for one young man and his family.