Chinese-born influencer Xiaowei (小微) was to be deported after failing to voluntarily leave Taiwan before midnight last night, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said today.
Xiaowei took the 2:10pm flight to Guangzhou, China, from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) reported.
“I love my country, what’s wrong with that?” she shouted to reporters at the airport.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The spouse of a Taiwanese national and mother of three, Xiaowei, whose given name is Zhao Chan (趙嬋), was reported for posting “reunification” comments on social media and had her dependent-based residency permit revoked on March 21.
Xiaowei was given 10 days to leave the country.
A specialized task force from the NIA this morning prepared to apprehend Xiaowei at her residence in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口).
However, Xiaowei turned herself in to immigration authorities in Jhonghe District (中和) at about 9:45am.
The task force held a meeting this morning to discuss the case with experts and academics, before deciding to begin the process of forced deportation.
Xiaowei may be forcibly deported according to article 18 of 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).
Agents checked that her passport and cross-strait travel documents had not expired or been lost before arranging her onward travel, the agency said.
She departed for the Taoyuan airport at 11:30am.
In recent days, reporters and the public have gathered outside her Linkou residence.
It is suspected that Xiaowei moved to a different location to avoid the crowds, although NIA agents said they tracked her movements.
YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), public figures known for their anti-Chinese Communist Party videos, gathered outside her Linkou residence yesterday evening, and today waited at the NIA task force base to livestream the events.
“Safe journey Xiaowei. Never come back,” they said.
Xiaowei’s deportation follows two other cases of Chinese-born spouses and social media influencers posting comments that support “military reunification” of China and Taiwan on Chinese social media platform Douyin.
Enqi (恩綺), real name Zhang Yan (張燕), and Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), who goes by “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣), also had their dependent-based residency permits revoked and were ordered to leave, although both women voluntarily returned to China before the deadline.
Enqi left yesterday evening for Chengdu, and Yaya on Tuesday last week for Fuzhou.
Additional reporting by Hsu Sheng-lun and CNA
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