Chinese-born influencer Liu Zhenya, who goes by 鈥淵aya in Taiwan鈥, fell foul of Taiwanese authorities for video comments she made to her 400,000 followers on Douyin (Chinese TikTok), which included praising China鈥檚 military drills around the island in May 2024.
She expressed hope that by morning, 鈥渢he island will already be covered with red flags鈥, a reference to China鈥檚 flag. Taiwanese authorities deemed she had crossed a red line in advocating 鈥渢he elimination of our country鈥檚 sovereignty鈥.
鈥淭here are limits to freedom of speech, and the limits are the country鈥檚 survival,鈥 Taiwan鈥檚 Premier Cho Jung-tai said at the time.
While Yaya鈥檚 expulsion was celebrated in Taiwan鈥檚 pro-independence circles, it was met with concerns about overreach in others. A group of 75 scholars co-signed a statement saying that democracy and the rule of law were 鈥渇acing unprecedented damage and threats鈥 under the DPP鈥檚 crackdown.
Separately, academics Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu queried whether Yaya鈥檚 videos, whilst repulsive in their view, were sufficient to constitute a national security threat and noted that any evidence of her CCP links had not been made public. Her deportation, they wrote on their blog, had 鈥渙nly served to divide an already incredibly polarised society more, at a time when unity is more important than ever in the face of Chinese aggression鈥.
鈥楤uilding a positive image of China鈥
Huang is not an influencer. Nor, he says, is he a member of a political party, though he doesn鈥檛 support Lai鈥檚 DPP. His Instagram account has just 2200 followers, and he hasn鈥檛 parroted Beijing鈥檚 unification narrative.
鈥淚 do not support the idea of being fully controlled by China where we lose all of our freedoms,鈥 he says. 鈥淭he majority of Taiwan will not accept this鈥.
But he has become a facilitator, helping would-be participants navigate the online back-channels to those who organise the cultural tours, a role he says he receives no payment for, or any other in-kind benefit. There is nothing illegal in doing this, though he faces potential backlash from the online pro-independence crowd.
Huang says he is not naive to the fact that the key reason Beijing funds such trips is to promote its unification agenda, and concedes his glowing testimonials feed its propaganda machine.
鈥淭he only thing that I want to do is to foster cultural exchanges between the two sides,鈥 he says.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e asking if that helps build a positive China image, then yes, that certainly is the case.鈥
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