Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Secretary-General and Vice Chairman Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) yesterday defended the National Immigration Agency’s (NIA) decision to revoke the residency permit of Chinese social media influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣), whose real name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), for advocating unifying Taiwan with China by force, adding that Liu is a rare exception among the 360,000 Chinese spouses across the nation.
The foundation is a semi-official agency set up by the Taiwanese government to handle civil and business affairs with China.
Liu, who is married to a Taiwanese, left the country on Tuesday night before an NIA-mandated deadline for her to leave.
Photo: Screen grab from Pop Radio’s livestreaming
Before boarding her flight, Liu insisted that she had done nothing wrong and had only championed cross-strait unification through “peaceful” means.
She added that she only agreed to leave the country on the advice of her lawyer, who said that refusal to do so could cost her the chance of returning to the country.
Luo said in an interview on Pop Radio that Liu definitely advocated unification with Taiwan by force in the videos she posted.
In one video posted on May 23 last year, Liu praised the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for launching the Joint Sword military drills and said it is ready at any moment to defend China’s sovereignty, Luo said.
Liu also said in the video that she could wake up the next day and see Taiwan’s streets “lined with [China’s] five-star red flags,” adding that just thinking about it thrills her.
In another video, Liu pushed her daughter to introduce the PLA’s Sichuan amphibious assault ship, saying that the vessel is set to accomplish great things, which is inappropriate for a parent to do, Luo said.
“The NIA has complied with the law and considered the human aspect of the matter when it asked her to leave the country. No Taiwanese would tolerate and accept someone choosing to live here while repeatedly saying that Taiwan is part of China and China can settle the Taiwan issue through force,” Luo said.
As to the criticism that the government broke up Liu’s family by asking her to leave the country, Luo said that she has the right to choose which country would be better for her children.
“She can let her children live in China if she thinks the ‘motherland’ is a wonderful nation, but she cannot force other Taiwanese to agree with her that Taiwan should be turned into a communist country and become part of ‘red China,’ considering that a large number of people migrated to Taiwan around 1949 to escape the rule of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party,” Luo said.
“Neither can she force our children to live like hers… We will defend to death the right of our children to breathe free air and say what they want to say in Taiwan for generations to come. They would not be afraid to talk about the Tiananmen Square Massacre, nor would they be worried about falling sick and dying in prison” for speaking out, he said.
Luo said he hoped that people would not discriminate against Chinese spouses because of Liu’s behavior.
“Taiwan has about 360,000 Chinese spouses, and many of them identify with Taiwanese values and have put down roots here. People should not discriminate and put a label on them because of some rare and isolated cases,” he said.
Luo also advised people to avoid going to China, or even transiting through Hong Kong, unless it is absolutely necessary, as China has flouted the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議) and begun to arrest and detain Taiwanese travelers without informing Taiwanese authorities first.
Seventy-seven Taiwanese citizens lost contact with family after traveling to China last year, some of whom remain missing, Luo said.
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