A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon.
A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said.
The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法).
Photo copied by Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The couple applied to visit a family member in Taiwan at the end of last month, but the person they intended to visit had returned to China in July, the agency said.
The Chinese nationals were aware they were contravening the rules when they applied for temporary entry permits based on visiting family members living in Taiwan, it said.
In a separate statement issued yesterday, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) denounced the couple, accusing them of “abusing” the immigration system.
Photo: Taipei Times
However, the MAC did not explain why government agencies had failed to detect any problems with the application when it was submitted.
The government would review future applications “more strictly,” it said.
The breach of the immigration rules only surfaced after they were accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) area organized by a group of Hong Kong residents on Tuesday evening.
The Oct. 1 Action Team said in a statement on Wednesday that its flag, which featured the protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” had been thrown on the ground by one of the Chinese pair.
The slogan came to prominence during protests in Hong Kong in 2019 and has been banned in the territory under the Chinese Communist Party’s National Security Law.
“Today is China’s National Day, and I will not allow this kind of flag to be displayed here,” Yao said, according to video clips released by the Hong Kong group and Radio Free Asia, a US government-funded news service.
The video clips also show Yao engaged in an altercation with people at the event.
“Taiwan and Hong Kong are part of China,” Yao said in the video before a police officer led the couple away from the scene.
The MAC warned Chinese against making “statements harmful to Taiwan’s autonomous status” or otherwise engaging in “acts undermining the nation’s sovereignty” while in Taiwan, citing the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area.
Article 12 of the regulations stipulate that Chinese visiting Taiwan risk having their entry permits revoked if they “engage in inappropriate acts that breach the principle of equality and dignity.”
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS