Chinese social media sites Sina Weibo and Bilibili on Saturday blocked Taiwanese Internet celebrity Chung Wei-ting (仲惟鼎), also known as AmoGood (谷阿莫), from accessing his accounts after he announced a potential bid to run in the election for chairman of the pro-independence New Power Party (NPP).
“As a political party in a democratic country, we welcome all party members to exercise their rights and participate in party elections,” NPP Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) said yesterday. “He was banned from accessing his own Sina Weibo account simply because he [wants to run] for NPP chairman. This shows the difference between Taiwan and China: Taiwanese people have the protected right of free speech, while Chinese people cannot enjoy democracy and freedom under the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] regime.”
As an NPP member, Chung has the right to run in the elections for members of the party’s central decisionmaking committee and party chairman, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Chung would have to be elected to the 15-member committee before he qualifies to run as chairman.
Chung’s participation in party elections “should be affirmed and encouraged,” and “shows Taiwan is a diverse and democratic society,” Chiu said.
“The freedom of speech of those who support Taiwan independence or even becoming a state of the US should all be protected,” he said. “Why China would think that Taiwanese people or Internet celebrities would not support an independent Taiwan is beyond me, and this shows China has a long way to go before it becomes a truly democratic state.”
Chung, who is known for his irreverent movie reviews, is involved in several copyright infringement lawsuits.
“As a person who is entering politics, Chung must be ready to have every aspect of his life examined by the public. He owes the public an explanation [for the copyright infringement issues], and lawsuits would be handled through the judicial system,” Chiu said.
Chung wrote a 2,000-character article in Mandarin saying that he participated in the election for NPP central decisionmaking committee members because he wanted to examine the reasons for the party’s decline.
“I want to use new media to oversee party leaders. I might run for NPP chairman if the party lacks good leaders,” he wrote.
In a video released on Sunday, Chung said that he registered on Friday to participate in the election for NPP central decisionmaking committee members.
On Saturday evening, Sina Weibo and Bilibili blocked him from accessing his accounts after Taiwanese news media reported his bid to serve on the committee, he said.
“It is regrettable that I am now banned from posting anything on the Chinese streaming platforms, although I already expected that this was what they would do before I ran,” Chung said. “This shows that there is no true freedom in the CCP regime.”
“The Republic of China, Taiwan exists as a de facto country, and I entered politics because I want to make contributions to Taiwanese society,” he added.
Chung said he joined the NPP because it allows an ordinary party member like him to participate in the election for members of the central decisionmaking committee.
“I was not involved in politics until a good friend of mine joined the NPP a year ago. It made me wonder: ‘What about me? What can I do for Taiwan?’” he said.
Chung said he has more than 10 million subscribers on Sina Weibo and 2 million on Bilibili.
He was also subsequently banned on other Chinese streaming platforms as well, he said.
“I want to start my political career by first being elected to the NPP’s central decisionmaking committee, which would give me an opportunity to reform the party,” he said. “If I was elected and people still did not feel that the NPP has changed, I would not hesitate to leave.”
Votes for central decisionmaking committee members can be cast from Thursday to Saturday, the party said, adding the final list of elected members is to be announced at 11am on Sunday.
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