Visiting Chinese academic Li Yi (李毅) was deported from Taiwan yesterday morning because he was scheduled to make a public speech, which would have breached the terms of his entry permit, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said.
Li was found at a hostel in Nantou County at 12:35am and was deported on China Airlines Flight 601 from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Hong Kong at 7:25am, the NIA said.
Entering Taiwan under the guise of sightseeing to advocate unifying Taiwan with China by means of force is “worse than terrorism,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told reporters.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
“Taiwan is a free, democratic and open country. We welcome all to visit Taiwan... However, if you come here to advocate unification through armed invasion under the pretext of sightseeing, you are no different from a terrorist,” Su said.
Li’s deportation was proportionate; he had it coming, Su said, adding that there was no comparison to the treatment of Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who was sentenced to five years in a prison in China’s Hunan Province.
Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said Li should not have planned activities of a political nature or advocated the destruction of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
There are limitations to freedom of speech, Hsu said, adding that statements advocating unification with China by means of force are not welcome in Taiwan.
Li in August last year applied for a multiple-entry permit to visit Taiwan for tourism purposes and arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, NIA Director-General Chiu Feng-kuang (邱豐光) said yesterday.
Li was asked to leave the country because of his intentions to engage in an activity inconsistent with the purpose of his entry permit, Chiu said.
Shortly before his departure yesterday, Li posted a “departure message” on Chinese social media platform WeChat, saying that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will “eventually be unified.”
After landing in Hong Kong, he said in a radio interview that freedom of speech in Taiwan allows him to discuss topics such as “reunification,” whether by peaceful means or by force.
Li, who has advocated the use of force to unify Taiwan and China, was invited by the Chinese Unity Promotion Party (CUPP) to speak at a forum titled “Cross-Strait Peaceful Unification and Development,” in Taichung today.
In the speech, he was expected to address China’s proposal to implement a “one country, two systems” framework in Taiwan, the CUPP said on Facebook on Thursday.
Given his intentions to engage in activity of a political nature while on a tourist permit, and considering that his pro-unification speech might have jeopardized national security and social stability, Li would be asked to leave Taiwan, the NIA said on Thursday, citing the Regulations Governing the Approval of People of the Mainland Area Visiting Taiwan for Purposes of Tourism (大陸地區人民來台從事觀光活動許可辦法).
Li has been declared persona non grata and would be subject to restrictions if he returns to Taiwan, the Ministry of the Interior said.
Taichung City Councilor Huang Shou-ta (黃守達) of the Democratic Progressive Party said that Li has said that once the Chinese People’s Liberation Army crosses the Taiwan Strait, Taiwanese can forget about independence.
Additional reporting by Sean Lin
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as