A number of Internet influencers, who were banned from entering the country for breaching the terms of their tourist visas, are now allowed to enter Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
They included Terence Shen, also known as Mr Shen (公子沈); Edgar Lu (盧雄飛), also known as Sydney Daddy; Wen Chao (文昭) and Lawrence Alexander Farley, also known as LeLe Farley (樂樂法利).
Since its establishment, the council has paid attention to news about Chinese democracy activists in foreign countries, MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday.
Photo: Taipei Times
“We heavily depend on them to speak about freedom and democracy in Taiwan, so that the international community can understand the country’s ‘status quo,’” Liang said.
“From the council’s perspective, these democracy activists would be helpful in countering China’s cognitive warfare tactics. They have been supporting and speaking for Taiwan’s democracy, exposing the ‘status quo’ of the Chinese Communist Party and supporting cross-strait peace,” Liang said.
“We believe their special skills and experiences are what Taiwan needs at the moment,” he said.
Shen, Lu and Wen are Chinese expatriates with foreign citizenships, Liang added.
As for Taiwanese entertainers reposting messages from China’s People Daily in celebration of China’s National Day, Liang said that the council mainly looks at whether their messages advocate for the annihilation of Taiwanese sovereignty or taking over of the nation by force.
“It appears that most of the Taiwanese entertainers played close to the line again this time. They were all familiar faces, who have posted such messages before. China seems to have a very limited number of Taiwanese entertainers that it can use in its cross-strait agenda,” he said.
In other news, Liang said that Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang’s (黃國昌) alleged recruitment of journalists to stalk Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians could have national security ramifications and should be investigated by prosecutors.
On Friday last week, news Web site Mirror Daily reported that Huang in 2022 allegedly formed a surveillance group to target DPP politicians, calling on members and affiliates of the Anti-Corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association (TAWPA).
TAWPA reportedly worked with Taiwan People News, which had received funding from Kai Ssu International Co. The company now faces questions regarding whether it received investment from China or Hong Kong.
“Prosecutors need to investigate this incident, as this could be a breach of the National Security Act (國安法) and the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法),” Liang said.
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