NIA deports Japanese national over pro-China rhetoric in video

Taipei, Aug. 25 (CNA) Taiwan's National Immigration Agency (NIA) on Monday deported a Japanese social media influencer who apparently has a Taiwanese wife for claiming that "Taiwan belongs to China" in a TikTok video made in Taipei.

The video in question was uploaded to TikTok on Friday by a male content creator who called himself Aira Todomi.

Todomi and another social media influencer, a 42-year-old man who called himself Hiroyuki Tanaka, displayed the flag of the People's Republic of China (PRC) at the famous Ximending LGBTQ Rainbow in Taipei in the video, and it was Tanaka who said "Taiwan belongs to China."

The NIA said the creation of the video violated Item 13 of Article 18 in Taiwan's Immigration Act, which states that the NIA shall "prohibit an alien from entering the State" if he or she is "believed to endanger national interests, public security, public order, or the good customs of the State."

The NIA did not cite specifically how the video met those thresholds, though it said the comments on the video by the two individuals were inappropriate.

The NIA said it deported Tanaka on Monday morning and has banned him from entering Taiwan again.

Todomi was found to have left Taiwan immediately after filming the video, and the TikToker has been banned from entering Taiwan again, the agency said.

Tanaka may have stayed behind in Taiwan after filming the video due to his marital status, as Tanaka had said in TikTok videos that he is married to a Taiwanese national.

The agency added that during the investigation, Tanaka admitted to participating in the video to boost his online presence and also his fanbase in China.

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Aside from displaying the PRC flag, Todomi and Tanaka said in the video that they were Japanese nationals who deeply love China.

In both fluent Japanese and Mandarin, Todomi said both content creators love China and would love to see China and Japan continue a friendly relationship, adding that whatever problem Taiwan has with China should be dealt with between the two sides.

Tanaka, who spoke less and was less fluent in Mandarin, echoed Todomi's sentiments that both Japanese nationals loved China and also uttered the remark that apparently got him into trouble.

The two men then parted ways, leaving Todomi alone to continue the video singing in front of Taipei Main Station while displaying the China flag next to the flag of Japan.

While he claimed he was Japanese, Todomi also said he was Chinese in a number of his video uploads to TikTok.

The Ximending video has since garnered the dissatisfaction of many netizens and also incurred the anger of some of Taiwan's political content creators like Pa Chiung (八炯), who was accused of trying to channel Nazi ideology into Taiwan's recent recall campaign.

Individuals like Pa Chiung and a few netizens took to social media to say that they reported the video and the two Japanese content creators to the NIA.

On Monday, the agency said the comments made by the two TikTokers about Taiwan were not appropriate.

An investigation confirmed that both content creators entered Taiwan through the mutual visa-free program between the two countries, and the video itself was filmed in Ximending on Aug. 18, the NIA said.