Taiwan warns 23 entertainers for 'cooperation' with Chinese authorities

Taipei, Aug. 29 (CNA) The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Friday that 23 Taiwanese entertainers have been verbally warned for actions deemed by the Taiwanese government to constitute "cooperation" with the Chinese authorities, in the first investigation of its kind.

"What we are investigating is not the content of the posts themselves, but your acts of cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its government and military," MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei.

The posts referred to by Liang were those shared on March 7 and 8 this year, when some Taiwanese entertainers reposted an image-and-text post from China Central Television (CCTV) -- a state-run broadcaster in China -- that read, "Let's repost this together! This is the only designation for Taiwan! #ChinaTaiwanProvince#"

"There is no doubt that CCTV is a party-run media outlet -- it is part of the CCP and its government and military," he said.

Among those entertainers who echoed Beijing's narrative of Taiwan belonging to China, a number also made similar posts during China's two "Joint Sword" military exercises held around Taiwan in May and October last year, according to Liang.

As for the entertainers' responses when questioned by Taiwanese authorities, Liang said many claimed their posts were handled by management companies, while others said they were unaware such actions violated the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (Cross-Strait Act).

"Some also said that after this investigation, they would not do the same thing again in the future," Liang added.

Paragraph 1, Article 33-1 of the Cross-Strait Act stipulates that, individuals are prohibited from engaging in "any form of cooperative activity" with agencies in China that are "political parties, the military, the administration or of any political nature, or which are involved in any political work against Taiwan or affect national security or interests."

Asked what made the actions "cooperative activity," Liang said, "This matter [referring to those reposts] is, objectively speaking, an act of cooperation."

"Unless you can prove that you strongly disagreed with your company's actions and voiced opposition ... such conduct will still be deemed an act of cooperation from an objective standpoint," he said.

Shifting responsibility to managers was "hardly justifiable," Liang said, noting that under the Civil Code in Taiwan, managers act as agents on behalf of entertainers, and therefore the entertainers themselves must bear responsibility for actions taken in their name.

Before the recently completed investigation, the government had never carried out such a probe nor imposed penalties on Taiwanese entertainers pursuing careers in China, Liang said.

"In this investigation, we believe the process has been completed with the notification and verbal warnings issued to the entertainers involved." Liang said. "However, if similar incidents occur in the future, relevant regulations will certainly be applied."

Under Article 90-2 of the Cross-Strait Act, individuals who violate Paragraph 1 of Article 33-1 can be fined between NT$100,000 (US$3,268) and NT$500,000, with repeat penalties possible.

Liang said the purpose of the investigation was not to impose penalties but to give Taiwanese entertainers grounds to refuse requests from Chinese authorities.

"We believe that next time they will all have a reason to say no," he added.

Freedom of speech

Meanwhile, Bruce Liao (廖元豪), an associate professor at National Chengchi University's College of Law, told CNA in an interview in late May that applying Article 33-1 to entertainers could create freedom of speech related concerns.

"To put it more bluntly, even if someone said they wanted to cooperate by promoting pro-China or pro-unification views ... such speech is still 100 percent protected under our Constitution and laws," he said.

"Regardless of whether a person, such as Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) or anyone else, has cooperated with the CCP, if they make such remarks in Taiwan, those remarks are fully protected by law," he said.

While the MAC has not released the full list of 23 Taiwanese entertainers investigated, Ouyang was among those who reposted the CCTV message on the Chinese social media platform Weibo in March.

Liao said that the acts of cooperation targeted by the government should only be those involving violations such as leaking state secrets, which he argued are the kinds of offenses that can legitimately be punished under the law.

"If you say that anyone cooperating with China would harm national interests, to be honest, only people with significant power could actually do that -- ordinary individuals simply could not," he said.

Liao added that the article should be applied to entertainers with "great caution."

"I do not agree that just because they say things that many in Taiwan find offensive, it should be considered harming national interests," Liao said. "Freedom of speech protects the right to say things that may sound unpleasant or uncomfortable."

"Offensiveness has never been a legitimate reason for the law to punish speech," he added.