Taiwan orders deportation of Chinese influencer for advocating unification with Beijing

Taiwan has revoked the visa of a Chinese influencer and ordered her deportation after she allegedly posted a video advocating China taking the island by force.

The National Immigration Agency (NIA) has asked the influencer surnamed Liu to leave Taiwan within 10 days and revoked her visa while barring her from applying for it in the next five years.

The NIA claimed the influencer’s behaviour advocates the elimination of Taiwan's sovereignty and is not tolerated in Taiwanese society.

The influencer of Chinese identity married a Taiwanese man and relocated to the island on a dependent visa.

Known on social media as Yaya, Ms Liu is accused of regularly posting pro-Beijing commentary and referring to the island as "Taiwan province". Ms Liu, who has 480,000 followers on Douyin, a TikTok-like video-sharing platform in China, has also allegedly posted content that said Taiwan is "an inseparable part of China".

"The complete unification of the motherland is a necessity, regardless of what the Taiwanese people want,” she reportedly said in one of the videos.

"Peaceful unification is much harder than unification by force," she added. "It depends on what choices the Taiwanese people make."

In February Ms Liu posted on Douyin that she "would never back down".

She said that she was "trying to promote the good on both sides" through her videos and "eliminate the chasm between people", according to BBC.

"I'm just analysing objectively and sharing my own views," she was quoted as saying.

The NIA warned online streamers that such actions could break the law and waste government resources on unnecessary paperwork.

The agency also stated that any act that threatens the country's democratic way of life is unacceptable.

Taiwan rejects China’s claims that the self-governed island is part of its territory. China claims the island of 23 million people is a breakaway province that must eventually be reunified with the mainland – by force if necessary – despite never having actually governed it.

Tensions have intensified between the two as the Chinese air force and navy have stepped up their presence near the island and president Lai Ching-te unveiled wide-ranging measures to counter infiltration efforts earlier this month.

Mr Lai called China a “foreign hostile force” for the first time and promised tougher measures, including the potential resumption of military trials for soldiers accused of treason or spying.

Ms Liu could not immediately be reached for comment.