A city councilor in southern Taiwan's Tainan City was sentenced to four months in jail by the Tainan District Court Monday for jostling a visiting Chinese official last year and causing him to fall. Wang Ting-yu made headline news last year when he and several others mobbed Zhang Mingqing, vice president of Beijing's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, on Oct. 21 when Zhang was on one of the first visits by Chinese officials to Taiwan since relations began improving between the two sides last year. Six others who joined Wang were handed sentences ranging from 40 days of detention to four months in jail. All of the sentences can be converted into fines at the rate of NT$1,000 (US$30) per day and are subject to appeal. The incident sparked widespread public debate in Taiwan. Those who supported a warming of ties between Taiwan and China thought Wang and his cohorts' actions were rude, while opponents of closer ties with Beijing thought the authorities were wrong in charging them. One of the defendants shouted 'Judicial injustice! ' and 'Anti-communism is not wrong! ' after hearing the sentences being announced. Wang, for whom the prosecutor had demanded a jail term of 14 months, described the sentences to reporters later as 'absurd, ' arguing that TV footages of the incident showed that he did not touch Zhang. The Chinese official, who was visiting Taiwan in his private capacity as a scholar to attend a seminar at Tainan National University of the Arts, was chased by a group of pro-independence protesters led by Wang while he was visiting the Confucius Temple in the southern city. Dozens of protestors chanted anti-China slogans and shouted abuses at Zhang, telling him to 'Get lost' and to 'Go back to China.' Footages showed Zhang lost his footing as he was being pulled and accosted by Wang and his group. Wang questioned the credibility of police records of their interview with Zhang after the incident, because it did not carry the signature of Zhang. Wang said he would consult with his lawyer before deciding whether to appeal his sentence. With regard to his co-defendants, he said he would try to convince them to accept their sentences in light of their advanced age, and promised to help them pay their fines. Responding to Wang's criticism of the court's sentence, Wu Yung-hui, a spokesman for the Tainan District Court said the police interview was taped by video and was thereby admissible as evidence in court, according to the law. Zhang cut short his trip and returned to his home in Xiamen, Fujian Province the day after the incident. He did not attend any of the court hearings during the trial. The chief of police of Tainan City was reassigned to another position after the incident, for failing to provide Zhang with proper protection. 