Taiwanese former member of the girl group “F4”, Liu Leyan, who is known for her pro-China stance and often compared to a female version of Huang An, revealed on Weibo on January 16 that despite living in mainland China for nearly 10 years, she was mistaken for a “Taiwanese independence advocate” by Chinese police, which made her very angry.
On January 16, Liu Leyan posted on Weibo that she was mistaken for someone else by the police in Yinchuan, Ningxia on the 15th. She wrote, “Although you meant to catch a Taiwanese independence advocate, you accidentally caught a pro-China supporter, leading to a mix-up.”
Liu Leyan, who rose to fame as part of the girl group “F4” in her early years but didn’t achieve much popularity in Taiwan, hence shifted her focus to mainland China and moved there in 2016. Despite occasionally expressing pro-China views to gain attention from Chinese nationalists, she was surprised that her complaints on Weibo led to her being labeled as a “Taiwanese independence advocate” and getting detained by Chinese police.
However, Liu Leyan mentioned that the police apologized immediately upon hearing her intention to file a complaint, leaving her stunned. She sarcastically taunted the police, saying, “I haven’t finished being angry, how can you apologize so quickly?”
In her post, Liu Leyan recalled incidents from when she used to live in Yanjiao, Hebei, with police visiting her frequently but always in a polite manner, saying things like “Miss Liu, could you please cooperate?” or “Miss Liu, could you do me a favor and delete a post, don’t make it hard for me,” and “Miss Liu, would you like to come to our station for a cup of tea?” among others.
She described feeling terrified by the police in Yinchuan this time. Emphasizing that she has no reason to fear the police as long as she knows she hasn’t done anything wrong, she boldly stated, “If any police officer dares to provoke me, they’d be messing with a lunatic. I won’t do anything, just spend the whole day making complaint calls until I make you call for help.”
Liu Leyan, who often praises China while belittling Taiwan, previously vented her frustration on Weibo, saying, “Although I consider myself Chinese, they see me as a foreigner. I have to get special permits for the shows I film, and many production companies find it troublesome to use Taiwanese, causing me a lot of trouble.”
While Liu Leyan claimed she doesn’t care much about having “Taiwanese nationality,” she mentioned that if she happened to contract the “Communist virus” disclosed by the Chinese authorities as having visited places in Yanjiao where she used to live, she would return to Taiwan for treatment, praising Taiwan’s health insurance system as the best.
This incident highlights the complex relationship between Liu Leyan, China, and Taiwan, and the challenges she faces due to her ambiguous position in the ongoing political tensions between the two regions.