The National Immigration Agency yesterday defended its decision to ban Chinese journalist Wang Zhian (王志安) from entering Taiwan for five years after he made an unauthorized appearance on an online talk show in January.
Wang, a former China Central Television investigative reporter blacklisted by Beijing over allegations of corruption, wrote on X on Wednesday that he had received notice of the decision and intended to file a lawsuit.
“Going forward, we are to formally indict ... the Republic of China National Immigration Agency,” he said.
Photo: Screengrab from YouTube
In response, the agency said it pulled Wang’s tourist visa after being presented with clear evidence that he had accepted an interview on a Taiwanese talk show, which breaches his visa’s conditions.
Officials duly referred Wang’s appeal to the Executive Yuan, which agreed with the agency’s ruling that the interview breached his stated reason for his visit to Taiwan and did not qualify as tourism, it said.
Chinese nationals are permitted to make guest appearances on Taiwanese television on condition that they possess a visitor’s visa for business purposes, the agency said.
The Executive Yuan rejected Wang’s claim that he was banned from entering Taiwan for exercising free speech, it said.
Wang on Jan. 22 appeared on the online talk show The Night Night Show with Hello (賀瓏夜夜秀), in which he disparaged Taiwanese elections and mimicked a disabled person, in an apparent reference to Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Chun-han (陳俊翰), who has spinal muscular atrophy.
The Chinese reporter’s comments were perceived as discriminatory to people with disabilities and disrespectful to democracy, sparking an outcry on social media.
Three days after the incident, he was banned from visiting Taiwan for five years.
Wang panned the agency’s decision, calling it “a “politically motivated ruling in retribution for my speech.”
“I want to see if the Republic of China’s legal system can transcend political factions to provide relief to the people in the mainland area and have a taste of ... [Taiwanese] legal activities,” he added.
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