Twenty Taiwanese entertainers who shared Chinese propaganda on social media are being investigated and might face fines, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said.
The entertainers allegedly shared posts on Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo saying that “Taiwan has never been a country and never will be, and it should only be referred to as a province of China,” the MAC said, adding that it is investigating the issue with the Ministry of Culture.
The artists have all been contacted for an explanation, and those who fail to reply would “face penalties,” it added.
Photo: Screen grab from Ouyang Nana’s Sina Weibo account
The artists were named as Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Angela Chang (張韶涵), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), Ouyang Didi (歐陽娣娣), Aska Yang (楊宗緯), Joe Chen (陳喬恩), Michelle Chen (陳妍希), Jiro Wang (汪東城), Mark Chao (趙又廷), Julian Chen (陳志朋), Huang Xiyan (黃曦彥), Darren Chen (官鴻), Lin Bo-rei (林柏叡), Riley Wang (王以綸), Edward Chen (陳昊森), Wanyan Luorong (完顏洛絨), Chiang Yu-heng (姜育恆) and Wen Qi (文淇), as well as two others whose identities were not revealed.
The posts were allegedly made after Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) made the statements at a Chinese National People’s Congress news conference in March.
Wang’s statements were posted to Weibo by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV alongside images containing the words “Taiwan is China’s and it must return,” prompting the artists to make their own posts sharing the images and statements.
At the time, the MAC issued a statement criticizing the artists’ posts, saying they could endanger national security. The council said it would investigate whether the artists had “cooperated with Beijing to undermine the sovereignty of the Republic of China,” which would contravene 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).
MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) on Thursday said that no penalties had yet been imposed, but that the 20 entertainers had been contacted to explain the posts, and that 10 had replied.
The government has set a deadline for responses, and those who fail to reply by the deadline would be considered to have forfeited their opportunity to explain, thereby resulting in penalties, he added.
Chinese-language SET News on Friday reported that many of the artists or their agencies contacted by the MAC responded that they “did not know” their actions were illegal, “had no intention of contravening regulations” or were “not familiar with government rules” on the matter.
Artists cannot evade accountability by making such responses, Liang said, adding that the MAC “would not consider the matter closed” in such instances.
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