Screenshot from STR Network‘s YouTube Channel.
Wang Zhian, a Tokyo-based mainland Chinese journalist, sparked an online backlash after mocking Taiwanese election campaigns on a comedy talk show. He was subsequently banned from entering Taiwan for five years.
The ex-Chinese Central Television (CCTV) journalist was slammed for his discriminatory joke about a disabled legislative candidate, Chen Chun-han of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), in a comedy talk show “The Night Night Show with Hello”. The episode was released on January 22, 2024.
Two days later, Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) stated that Wang had breached his tourist visa term by appearing on the show and hence revoked his entry permit and banned him from entering Taiwan for five years.
However, some were sceptical about the reasoning, as many Chinese independent journalists and bloggers, such as Sydney Daddy on X, had travelled to Taiwan on a tourist visa to observe the Taiwanese elections.
Wang's political jokes
Wang Zhian was a former TV news host for China’s state-owned CCTV. On June 4, 2019, his social media accounts from three major platforms were removed. Eventually, he left China and settled in Japan in 2020. He is currently the chief reporter of Tokyo Fuko and runs a YouTube channel with about 1.2 million subscribers commenting on mainland Chinese current affairs.
Like many Chinese independent journalists, he travelled to Taiwan in January for two weeks to observe the Taiwanese general elections. In the process, he interviewed many local Taiwanese on their views on the elections, Taiwan society, cross-strait relations, and more.
He was invited to a comedy talk show, “The Night Night Show with Hello”, produced by STR network, which specializes in producing stand-up comedy and comedy talk shows.
Wang Zhian made several political jokes during the 30-minute show. For example, near the end of the talk show (see the embedded video below), when cohost Albee said, “rise-up China”, Wang raised Taiwan’s national flag while the host Horlung raised China’s national flag and told Albee, “The Republic of China (ROC) represents China. The People's Republic of China (PRC) is called Beijing, China.” Wang also jokingly accused Horlung of acting like a traitor as he raised the PRC flag in Taiwan. Horlung answered in a satirical tone, “Artists do not have nationality.”
王志安（王局）參加了賀龍夜夜秀，說出了「中華民國🇹🇼代表中國🇹🇼」，「中華人民共和國是中華北京」。… pic.twitter.com/Lfz9c1GMoM
— 中華民國光復者🇹🇼 🇺🇦 🇺🇸🇯🇵🇰🇷 (@roclove2020) January 24, 2024
Wang's controversial comment took place when he was asked about his impression of Taiwan’s presidential elections during the interview. Wang answered:
台灣的總統大選就像一場秀，去造勢場給人一種走錯片場的感覺，不像是政治競選舞台，像是演唱會現場，有唱歌鋪墊的，還有『把殘疾人推上去煽情的』，而中國也有這種節目… 淚點一來、音樂一起，殘疾人就說『支持民進黨、搶救王義川』
Taiwan's presidential election is like a show. Going to a campaign site gives people the feeling that they have gone to the wrong movie theatre, not like a political campaign stage, but like a concert site, with singers paving the way and those who “push the disabled up to stir up emotion”… Once the tears come, the music follows, and the disabled man says, “Support the Democratic Progressive Party and rescue Wang Yi-chuan”! [Wang imitated the disabled politician’s gesture when he uttered the line.
It is a bad joke. An overseas mainland Chinese YouTuber, SydneyDaddy, posted the 23-second video clip on X and suggested Wang make a public apology:
#賀瓏夜夜秀 已经在油管频道删除了这23秒的片段，并公开道歉；他们的脸书已经删除了整条采访视频
民进党残障人士不分区立委陈俊翰也已经公开谴责
这是王志安栽的第一个真正意义上的跟头。上策是赶紧严肃的道歉，中策是低调处理，下策是再秀一个
放心，以后这种跟头还多的是，王局黑不用过于激动 pic.twitter.com/tiVSfPo3WJ
— 悉尼奶爸 SydneyDaddy 雪梨奶爸 (@SydneyDaddy1) January 23, 2024
#TheNightNightTalkwithHello has deleted the 23-second clip on YouTube and made a public apology; they also deleted the whole interview on Facebook. Chen Chun-han, DPP’s disabled legislative candidate at-large, has publicly condemned the show. This was Wang Zhian’s first big ignorant mistake. The most proper response is a solemn apology; at least stay low. The worst reaction is to create another spectacle. […]
Many Taiwanese, in particular DPP’s supporters, found the joke offensive, as the disabled politician in question is Chen Chun-han, who suffers from Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) syndrome and survived a fire that led to the amputation of both his legs. He overcame the physical difficulties and obtained the professional status of a lawyer and accountant. Chen was listed in the DPP legislative candidate at-large list and appeared at DPP’s election rally on January 12, calling on the people to vote for the DPP for the party’s commitment to vulnerable groups’ needs and rights.
In an open statement, Chen urged Wang Zhian to reflect upon his stereotype against the disabled as political tools, rather than autonomous, competent actors, and suggested that his comment was a result of his mainland Chinese background:
可能跟他的成長環境有關係，或許他不懂得什麼是民主自由，或是人權這類的價值，所以才會有這些言論。
Perhaps Wang’s comment is related to his background; perhaps he doesn’t understand what is behind the value of democracy, freedom and human rights.
In response to the outrage, Wang said he would like to apologize to Chen for offending him. However, he insisted that the DPP was using the disabled politician in its election campaign as it placed Chen as the 16th in the at-large legislative candidates, which means Chen was unlikely to win his seat. The total number of seats in the at-large legislative constituency is 34, out of which the DPP won 13 seats.
Five-year visa ban controversy
Then on January 23, the Taiwanese Immigration Authority issued a five-year travel ban forbidding Wang from entering Taiwan as a tourist. According to Taiwan’s immigration law on travellers with mainland Chinese background, mainland tourists cannot appear on media outlets or participate in election campaigns, rallies and commercial activities. However, the law has been implemented selectively as, for decades, a large number of mainland Chinese have travelled to Taiwan to observe elections, participate in pride parades, etc. Hence, many also criticized the ruling party for abusing its power to suppress critical voices against the DPP.
Huang Cheng-yi, a Taiwanese law professor, also criticized the Taiwanese authority’s decision:
這樣的處置令人遺憾。五年境管有點太重了。是否其他來台拍影片的YouTubers都要比照辦理？https://t.co/zCJlKq0q6w
— 黃丞儀 (@Cheng_yi_Huang) January 24, 2024
Wang had once said that China and Taiwan were two distinctive entities even though they looked the same from the outside. This was not the first time he had travelled to Taiwan to observe the elections, and he commented that now that Taiwan had democracy, China had no excuse not to implement a democratic system. From the perspective of making friends, there is no need to corner him like this. Just making it clear that we do not like that mockery of the disabled should be enough.
The current decision to ban him from entering Taiwan for five years is regrettable and too heavy. How about other YouTubers who travel to Taiwan, would the law apply to them too?
Worse still, Wang’s critical comments against the DPP have added fuel to a circulating conspiracy theory alleging the ex-CCTV host is a mainland Chinese spy — partly because Wang has exposed some scandals within overseas mainland Chinese dissidents, such as the Falungong’s network in his YouTube channel. But many also spoke out for Wang by pointing out that his critique against mainland Chinese authorities has been equally unsympathetic and sharp.
In the latest contention, however, some DPP supporters vowed they would find ways to pressure the Japanese government to revoke his visa. Wang responded to the criticism with dark humour:
感觉自己命悬一线，快要顶不住了。被中共驱逐，被中华民国边控，还要到日本政府举报，还要预防性到美国那里举报。没有出路了。
谁能帮我联系一下习近平，不行的话我回国自首。感觉回去和任志强一起蹲上十八年大牢，最坏也就这样了。
— 王局志安 (@wangzhian8848) January 25, 2024
I feel my life is hanging by a thread, and I can't take it anymore. Expelled by the Chinese Communist Party and banned from entering the ROC (Taiwan), now they file reports to the Japanese government and preventively to the United States, too. There is no way out. Who can help me contact Xi Jinping? Or do I have to turn myself to the Chinese government? The worst is to stay in prison for 18 years, like Ren Zhiqiang.
Ren is a CCP member, a real estate tycoon, and an opinion leader. He disappeared on March 12, 2020, after calling Xi Jinping a clown over his zero-COVID policy. In September 2020, he was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment on corruption charges.
In a parallel development, many mainland Chinese X users started labelling the DPP as the Green Communist Party (綠共), arguing that Wang's visa ban shows the Taiwanese ruling party's attitude towards free speech is selective.
