Canto-pop singer and activist Denise Ho Wan-sze had red paint thrown over her while she was attending a march in Taipei on Sunday in support of the Hong Kong protests . Ho was talking to the media at about 2pm near Taipei’s parliament before the march – organised by the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy – when a masked man in a yellow helmet approached her from behind, according to local newspapers. Video clips circulating on social media show the man throwing the paint over the singer’s head, and it also splashes reporters and their microphones and recording devices. The man reportedly tried to leave the scene but was stopped. Two people, including a man in his 40s, were taken into custody over the incident, according to United Daily News . Ho continued the interview, with paint dripping from her hair, after the attack. “You can see Hong Kong social activists are facing this kind of threat to their safety on a daily basis,” she said. “This is clearly suppression and intimidation meant for Hong Kong people, but Hong Kong people will not back down or be intimidated.” The Hong Kong singer later tweeted that the incident was “a serious attack on free speech” and that “we shall not back down in the face of these threats”. Without directly mentioning the paint attack, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said those who had sought to sabotage the rally or use violence had been arrested and would be dealt with according to the law. “Please take our will and resolution to safeguard democracy in Taiwan seriously,” Tsai wrote in a Facebook post. The opposition Kuomintang also issued a statement condemning the attack and calling for people to be able to express support for Hong Kong in a peaceful and reasonable way. “The attacker violated the democratic spirit of respecting others’ freedom of speech and is the public enemy of democracy,” the statement said. Ho, 42, has been a public face of the leaderless anti-government protests in Hong Kong that began in early June. The mass demonstrations were sparked by a now-abandoned extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial, and have morphed into broader calls for political reforms. Beijing warned against efforts to “disrupt Hong Kong with foreign support” after Ho and another prominent pro-democracy activist from the city, Joshua Wong Chi-fung, testified before the US Congress earlier this month. The pair urged US lawmakers to pass new legislation that supports Hong Kong’s autonomy. They have also travelled to Germany, Taiwan and Australia to raise awareness of the protests in Hong Kong and appeal for support.