TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan has ordered three Chinese social media personalities to leave the island within days, Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang confirmed Monday (March 24), escalating tensions in the delicate cross-strait relationship. The influencers — aya (亞亞), Xiao Wei (小微) and En Qi (恩綺) — have been stripped of their health insurance coverage and residential permissions in a move that underscores Taiwan's growing vigilance against perceived threats to its sovereignty.
Appearing before a Legislative Yuan committee, Minister Liu defended the government's decision to revoke the residency permits of the three influencers, explicitly citing their advocacy for Taiwan-China unification as the justification. She characterized the action as a "final administrative disposition" with solid legal foundation, following extensive inter-agency consultations. The Interior Ministry has already instructed local household registration offices to terminate their registrations, effectively suspending their legal status on the island.
The most prominent of the three, Yaya — legally known as Liu Zhenya (劉振亞) — faces imminent deportation despite her marriage to a Taiwanese citizen and having three children in Taiwan. Her Tuesday deadline comes after the National Immigration Agency (移民署) mandated her departure within 10 days of posting contentious material on Douyin, China's version of TikTok. While fellow influencer Xiao Wei intends to challenge the ruling, Minister Liu remained firm that all departures would proceed as scheduled, emphasizing that authorities would enforce removals if necessary.
The expulsions have drawn sharp criticism from figures like prominent television commentator Jaw Shaw-kong, who accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨) of weaponizing the situation to intimidate opponents and consolidate its base. Jaw contended that the government's decision has little connection to genuine cross-strait policy concerns but instead serves as political theater to reinforce the party's pro-independence positioning ahead of upcoming elections.
