A Japanese national was deported this morning and has been barred from entering Taiwan along with his accomplice, after posting a video on Chinese social media holding the Chinese flag in Taipei and saying pro-China slogans, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said today.
In the video, the two Japanese men stand on the rainbow crosswalk in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) area holding a large Chinese flag and saying pro-Chinese slogans such as “Taiwan belongs to China” in Japanese and Chinese.
The NIA said that it immediately launched an investigation and identified the men, finding that a man called “T” had already left the country, while the other, known to authorities as “S,” remained in Taiwan.
Photo: Screen grab from a video posted by Threads user @gawain0512
A task force yesterday found the 42-year-old “S” at his hotel, who admitted to making the comments on film, the agency said.
They informed him of his rights before deporting him this morning for “endangered national security or social stability,” the agency said in a news release.
"T" entered Taiwan earlier this month and departed the same day the pair concluded filming, it said.
Both men, who used the visa-free entry scheme to enter Taiwan, have now been barred from entering the country, the NIA said.
Their actions were found to contravene Article 13-1 of the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法), which states that the NIA can revoke permits of those without household registration if their actions are found to “endanger national security or social stability,” the NIA said.
The two men — a Japanese influencer known as Aira, and an online Japanese teacher known as Tanaka-kun — admitted their motivation behind making the video was to elevate their online profiles and increase followers from China.
Their profiles on Chinese social media platform Bilibili show a series of videos claiming their “love for China,” speaking in Chinese and interacting with Chinese influencers.
In the video filmed in Taipei, the man introducing himself as Tanaka-kun says: “Today we are in Taiwan, China, in Ximending.”
The second man then introduces himself using his online persona Aila (艾拉), saying in both Chinese and Japanese: “We are Japanese, and we love China.”
“We hope that relations between Japan and China will continue to flourish,” he adds.
Tanaka-kun then finishes the video by saying: “Of course Taiwan belongs to China. Thank you,” as the second man adds: “Thank you for your support.”
As of writing, the video collaboration, posted on Aira’s account, has already amassed more than 70,000 views and 9,000 likes on Bilibili since it was posted on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, a copy of the video posted on social media platform Threads has received nearly 900 likes and 600 comments, with many users questioning why nobody intervened to stop the demonstration.
One commenter said they reported the video to the authorities and claimed that the two men had Chinese or Taiwanese family members.
Any foreign national in Taiwan deemed to endanger national security, public safety or social order would be dealt with according to the law, the NIA said, adding that it would continue working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure national safety and stability.
Three Chinese-born spouses of Taiwanese nationals — “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣), Xiaowei (小微) and Enqi (恩綺) — were also deported or asked to leave Taiwan by the NIA earlier this year, in a series of high-profile cases related to pro-China videos posted by the influencers on Chinese social media.
Additional reporting by CNA
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