Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force.
Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of the Interior had handled the incident according to the facts and regulations, he said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The remarks came a day after the influencer shared a video on Douyin (抖音), a Chinese social media platform.
The agency cited regulations governing the long-term residency of Chinese that authorized the government to refuse or rescind the permit of Chinese who “pose a danger to national security or social stability.”
The influencer, surnamed Liu (劉) — better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣) — had obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese.
The agency is temporarily refraining from deporting Liu out of humanitarian concerns, sources said, citing that she needs time to settle affairs concerning her family.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) had asked Cho to comment on the first-ever case of the NIA revoking the legal status of a Chinese residing in Taiwan.
The US and European nations can and do legally deport foreign residents for spreading extremist ideology, Lin said.
He called for stronger enforcement of rules governing Chinese spouses, saying Taiwan rarely deports Chinese for harming social stability or national security, despite having a legal mandate to do so.
The NIA made the decision to deport the influencer on strong evidence, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) told reporters ahead of yesterday’s legislative session.
The influencer from May last year to January shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and the “inevitability” of the nation’s “reunification” by the latter, Liu Shyh-fang said.
Taiwanese know that freedom of speech was not a gift from the heavens or an excuse to promote ideas of annexation of Taiwan by force or military intimidation of the nation, she said.
The influencer’s comments and any similar inflammatory online statements would be dealt with according to the law, she added.
The Legislative Yuan is discussing a bill to shorten the waiting period for Chinese nationals with Taiwanese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship from six years to four.
The bill is still under consideration and the Ministry of the Interior has advised legislators to exercise caution due to the increased risk posed by geopolitical tensions and the state of cross-strait relations, Liu Shyh-fang said.
The NIA in a news release on Tuesday evening said it received reports that Yaya made the statements on her Douyin account, which has about 400,000 followers.
Her comments in a self-recorded video were reported under suspicion of promoting “united front” tactics, and she was questioned, it said.
The agency said it revoked her permit according to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), it said.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office in a news conference threatened Taiwanese Internet celebrity Pa Chiung (八炯) who according to Taiwanese media reported Yaya to the authorities.
Pa Chiung is “a piece of scum, a thief and an accomplice, and will be severely punished,” office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said.
The Chinese influencer’s impending deportation is another incident of Taiwan harming their Chinese compatriots, he said.
The freedom of speech Taiwan touted is freedom only for pro-Taiwanese independence and anti-Chinese speech in a display of hypocrisy and double standards, he said.
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