A Chinese couple who allegedly disrupted a protest by civic group the Hong Kong Outlanders on Tuesday in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) area were deported on Thursday, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced.
The Hong Kong Outlanders — a group of local residents from Hong Kong — said it was holding the protest on China’s National Day to “commemorate Hong Kong’s martyrs.” The group was formed after China began cracking down on protests held in 2019 and 2020 against the implementation of the territory’s version of Beijing’s National Security Law.
During Tuesday’s protest in Ximen, one of the Chinese tourists — a man surnamed Yao (姚) — yelled “Today is China’s National Day, and I will not allow the display of these banners,” before pushing demonstrators and knocking down displays with slogans.
Following the incident, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said the tourists had contravened the Criminal Code by restricting the personal freedoms of the demonstrators.
“This should not happen in a free, democratic country. You can speak your mind if you disagree with our views, but he just barged in and started to knock down things and break them,” event organizer Fu Tong (赴湯) said.
Fu would be right that the tourists are free to express their own opinions in Taiwan, but visitors should be aware of limitations. Putting aside the destruction of another’s property, the tourists would not even be permitted to hold a counter-protest had they wished to do so, as that would be in violation of Article 10 of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法).
Agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have attacked Hong Kong democracy activists in Taiwan in the past. For example, several men attacked activist Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) when he arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Jan. 7, 2017. On Sept. 30, 2019, Hong Kong singer and democracy advocate Denise Ho (何韻詩) had red paint thrown on her by members of the China Unification Promotion Party while attending an event in Taipei.
Lam Wing-kee (林榮基), who relocated to Taiwan from Hong Kong after he was detained in China for selling books critical of the CCP, also had red paint thrown on him on April 22, 2020. Then, on Oct. 16 of the same year, chicken feces was thrown on a worker of a Taipei restaurant that employs Hong Kong exiles.
The CCP has long been known for taking advantage of the relative leniency of laws in democracies to go after its detractors. The deportation of the two tourists involved in Tuesday’s incident sets a clear precedent, which might serve to deter such behavior.
“The government will take immediate and strict action against any mainland Chinese who come to Taiwan and engage in illegal or irregular behavior that endangers our national security and social stability,” the MAC said.
The MAC could even consider explaining to visitors from China upon arrival that views in Taiwan on the cross-strait relationship differ from those in China, and that there is no tolerance for violence.
While being led away by police on Tuesday, Yao yelled out “Taiwan and Hong Kong are part of China.” While it is not clear whether Yao distinguishes between the Republic of China (ROC) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), those in Taiwan do.
“ROC Taiwan is a sovereign state, and it and the PRC are not subordinate to each other,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said on Wednesday in response to comments this week by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Xi said during a speech for the PRC’s National Day that “Taiwan is a sacred territory of China.”
Perhaps if Xi and Yao understood that there are two Chinas, which are fully independent of each other, misunderstandings could be avoided. In the meantime, visitors to Taiwan from the PRC might need a little reminder.
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