News Desk
In a decisive move against Beijing’s creeping influence, Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) announced that two Chinese social media personalities must leave the country within five days for promoting Chinese military aggression against the self-governing island. The crackdown highlights Taiwan’s firm stance against propaganda that echoes Beijing’s expansionist ambitions.
The two influencers, known online as Enqi (恩綺) and Xiaowei (小微), were found to have publicly endorsed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military threats, with Xiaowei in particular posting videos suggesting that Taiwan’s streets were already filled with China’s five-star red flags. Such statements mirror the rhetoric of Beijing’s state-controlled media, which routinely promotes narratives of Taiwan’s inevitable annexation—by force if necessary.
The deportations follow the recent case of another Chinese influencer, Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), who also openly supported military action against Taiwan. Liu managed to leave Taiwan just hours before her deportation deadline, avoiding forcible removal but nonetheless facing a five-year ban from reapplying for residency.
Taiwan’s immigration authorities, working in consultation with the Mainland Affairs Council, determined that Enqi and Xiaowei’s remarks violated national security concerns. Their residence permits have been revoked, and both are required to leave by March 31. Failure to comply will result in forced deportation, a strong rebuke that underscores Taiwan’s unwillingness to tolerate voices that seek to destabilize its democracy from within.
China, which claims Taiwan as its own despite never having governed it, has long employed a multifaceted strategy of intimidation, economic coercion, and disinformation campaigns aimed at weakening Taiwanese resolve. While military exercises and diplomatic isolation remain key prongs of Beijing’s pressure campaign, the infiltration of pro-CCP messaging through social media has emerged as a growing concern.
By expelling these influencers, Taiwan is sending a clear message: The island will not be a passive stage for Beijing’s information warfare. While China seeks to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty through both hard and soft power, Taiwan’s democratic institutions remain resolute in preserving freedom of speech—so long as it does not serve as a conduit for foreign authoritarian propaganda.
The move also raises broader questions about how democracies should handle foreign actors who exploit open societies to advocate for the dismantling of those very freedoms. Taiwan’s response—revoking residency and issuing bans—stands in stark contrast to Beijing’s own iron-fisted control, where dissenters are routinely silenced, jailed, or worse.
As tensions across the Taiwan Strait remain high, incidents like these serve as reminders that while China’s military threats may be the most visible aspect of its ambitions, the battle for Taiwan’s future is also being waged online, in the realm of public perception and political influence. Taiwan, it seems, is ready to fight back.
