Influencer of Chinese Douyin “Yaya in Taiwan”, whose real name is Liu Zhen-Ye, left Taiwan on March 25 after an expulsion order. Although Liu previously declared that she would refuse to leave after her residence permit was invalidated by the National Immigration Agency (NIA), Liu finally left before the deadline for deportation. Liu said she had reversed the course because she had been informed by lawyers if she hoped to return to Taiwan in the future, she should go voluntarily.
Liu, which has around 500,000 subscribers on the Chinese social media platform Douyin, was examined last month on videos expressing his support for the unification of Taiwan and China by armed force. During the military exercises around Taiwan led by the popular liberation army in May of last year, Liu said that She hoped to wake up And see the streets full of red prc flags. Liu’s statements suggested that China had Just cause To annex Taiwan, and that “the continent does not need a reason to bring together Taiwan by force”. Likewise, Liu was frequently disdainful In videos of the prospect of armed resistance of Taiwan, declaring that “there is no need to buy weapons. It would be preferable to return to the arms of the fatherland “, and that the purchases of American weapons” presented themselves only before Lord Guan “, referring to the Chinese God of War.
Liu was examined after being reported To the Taiwanese authorities as endangering national security by YouTuber PA Chiung Anti-CCP earlier in the month. Pa Chiung is best known for a Two -part youtube exhibition On the efforts of the Chinese United Front targeting Taiwan’s entertainment industry, involving the former pro-CCP rapper Chen Po-Yuan who is under cover while turning ostensibly promotional tourist videos for young Taiwanese to visit China. The first video in the series attracted 2.4 million views in about a week, or almost 10% of the 23 million inhabitants of Taiwan.
For his part, Liu initially denied expressing his support for armed unification, claiming to support the peaceful unification of Taiwan and China. Taiwan’s (Mac) continental business advice replied To this by making known the videos of Douyin de Liu, who contradicts his more recent claims, having previously encountered it for talks that were formulated as an opportunity for Liu to explain. During these meetings, Mac officials wondered if Liu had had contacts with representatives of the Chinese government or had participated in the activities of the United Front.
Liu had a residence in Taiwan due to marriage with Taiwanese. His residence was revoked on the basis of article 14 of the “measures of the family residence, long -term residence and the regulations of the continent region in the Taiwan region.” The authorities considered Liu’s actions to endanger national security, seeking to disrupt the Taiwan democratic system and to take advantage of it as an influencer. Liu will be prevented from reappearing a residence permit for five years.
On the other hand, Liu said that the actions of the Taiwanese government raped His freedom of expression. Its defenders included the opposition KMT, which has traditionally formulated itself as defending the interests and rights of the Chinese spouses of the Taiwanese who live in Taiwan. The KMT has long been interested in cultivating Chinese spouses who have acquired Taiwanese nationality as a demography that would vote for this. Left -wing groups to a union, such as People who rage act now Also rallied in the defense of Liu, affirming in the same way that the Government of the DPP knew the basic principles of freedom of expression.
Groups of the DPP and Civil Society Pro-Taiwan, such as the Kuma Academy, the main civil defense organization of Taiwan, preferred represent The question like that concerning Taiwan’s relationships with China rather than freedom of expression. More specifically, they designed Liu’s comments as sensitive because of the fact that she is the national of an enemy nation who militarily threatens Taiwan, while similar comments of nationals of countries who are not an enemy nation would not need to be taken seriously.
To an extent describe Liu’s comments as a hate speech. A comparison was established between Liu’s comments and contemporary neonazism.
Pro-Taiwan civil society groups have also criticized the km for having raised an uproar on Liu, but having little to say on Li Yan-He, the Chinese publisher recently convicted At three years in prison for books criticizing the Chinese government. Li, who is better known by his name of Fucha pen, is also married to a Taiwanese national. Li was detained after his return to China in March 2023, during a trip in which Li planned to give up her Chinese household registration in order to acquire Taiwanese nationality. The laws prohibit Taiwanese nationals to simultaneously hold the recording of Chinese households.
It is not the only time that Chinese influencers were examined in Taiwan either, although previous controversies sometimes took place upside down. Last year, Youtuber “Lia in Taiwan”, a Chinese national married to a Taiwanese person, was attacked by the legislator of Kmt Hsu Chiao-Hin, accused her to work for the DPP. “Lia” had a History of declarations In support of Taiwan’s democracy, but at the time pleaded that the politicians of Kmt were safe from the spotlight so that she can always visit friends and families in China. At the end of 2022, “Lia” suffered delays receive a travel permit Of the Chinese government which would allow him to return to Taiwan, considered as dissatisfaction of the Chinese authorities about his opinions.
Even if Liu has since left Taiwan, the debate that broke out in Taiwan is unlikely to be repressed. On the one hand, if the offense question was that a Chinese national expressed the support of the armed unification of Taiwan and China, we note that many Taiwanese also have such opinions – potentially including the legislators of KMT. The fact that Liu’s comments were of public interest because of her influencer with considerable follow -up raises questions about the fact that influencers should be subject to laws regulating disinformation, disinformation or propaganda.
More broadly, the LAI administration has taken a more aggressive position on the national security of Taiwan lately. Earlier in March, Lai announced a multitude of measures, Including the reintroduction of military courts to deal with espionage affairs and increasing obstacles to people in China, Hong Kong and Macao to acquire a Taiwanese residence.
In recent times, the LAI administration has proven to be more disposed not only to criticize, but also to pursue legal action against persons accused of engaging in the efforts of the United Front. For example, outside the Liu affair, the Mac suggested that he would examine if Taiwanese celebrities which made statements Supporting China’s statements on Taiwan holds Chinese national identifiers. Again, current laws require the Taiwanese who hold Chinese national IDs lose their Taiwanese nationality. It can also GOOD them. The Ministry of the Interior also called dissolution Pro-Chinese political parties that have a history of violence and links with organized crime, such as the Chinese unification party.
The Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-Te, probably has several audiences targets in mind by announcing such new security measures. The first public is a domestic, which stimulates the support of the current wave of recall petitions targeting the blue -blue politicians, stressing that Chinese threats for Taiwanese society can occur internally, rather than outside. The second is international, in the sense that the United States has called Taiwan to do more for its own security, in particular by taking measures on frequent cases of defection or espionage in the Taiwanese army.
Early question of its component respected My-Formosa seems to indicate that the LAI administration may have received an increase in the approval of its security measures, while the KMT has experienced an slowdown in approval. However, he also proves that pro-Taiwan Civil Society groups which are generally progressive have temporarily taken on the side of the actions of the LAI administration. More broadly, it seems that Taiwan is on the precipice of a greater securitization of the company, which did not take place under the previous Tsai administration. Apart from that, this marks a starting point for the LAI administration with its predecessor, reflecting the times more and more tense with which Taiwan is confronted.
However, the controversy over Chinese pro-syndification influencers is probably not over. Liu is not the only Chinese pro-syndication influencer in Taiwan, with two other influencers now ordered to leave by NIA. Although one of these influencers deceased On the deadline set by NIA, the other did not do so, preparing the way for a possible confrontation with the police.