Two more Chinese-born influencers and spouses of Taiwanese have been issued orders to leave Taiwan by Monday next week or face forced deportation, due to “reunification” comments made on social media, the Ministry of the Interior said today.
Xiaowei (小微) and Enqi (恩綺) have had their dependent-based residency permits revoked and cannot reapply for five years, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said in a news release.
The announcement comes after Chinese-born influencer Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), who goes by “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣), left Taiwan yesterday evening for Fuzhou, China, after receiving a deportation order for “reunification” comments she made online.
Photo: Screen grabs from Douyin and Threads
The agency gave Yaya a deadline of midnight today before facing forcible deportation, after it revoked her residency permit earlier this month and issued the same five-year ban.
Xiaowei has more than 150,000 followers on Douyin, while Enqi has nearly 80,000.
Xiaowei has posted videos to the Chinese social media platform waving the Chinese flag in public places, with comments including: “I hope Taiwan’s streets will be lined with China’s five-star red flag.”
She has been in Taiwan for 12 years and has three children, who she asks in one video: “We are Chinese Taiwanese, right?”
She has also recorded her eldest son saying he wishes to visit “the motherland.”
The agency said it consulted with the Mainland Affairs Council and other relevant agencies before revoking Xiaowei’s residency permit.
Enqi’s Douyin account also includes “military reunification” comments, such as: “Military drills carried out by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army show the strength of [China’s] military and its commitment to protecting China’s sovereignty” and “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.”
Other videos feature her on the streets of Taiwan singing to passersby: “We are all Chinese” while wearing a red bandana saying: “I love China.”
Enqi’s account refers to Taiwan as a “Province of China.”
On Friday last week, the NIA concluded investigations into Xiaowei and Enqi’s online comments and issued both women an order to leave the country by Monday next week or face forced deportation, it said.
As of today, the agency had not received appeals from either woman, it added.
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