【Epoch Times, April 17, 2025】Chinese national spouse Liu Zhenya, also known as “Aya,” was publicly advocating for the “military reunification of Taiwan” during her stay in Taiwan. This led to the National Immigration Agency of the Ministry of the Interior of Taiwan revoking her family reunion resident permit on March 25, citing “endangering national security.” She was deported and banned from re-entering Taiwan for five years.
This incident has sparked significant attention in society. On the 15th, the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation released the latest poll results showing that a high 67.5% of the public supported the government’s handling of the Aya case. This reflects Taiwanese people’s concern about the national security risks highlighted by this case.
According to a nationwide survey conducted by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, when respondents were asked if they supported “the Immigration Agency revoking Aya’s residence permit in Taiwan and deporting her to China due to her online promotion of military unification,” the results showed that 46% strongly supported it, and 21.5% somewhat supported it, totaling 67.5%. In contrast, 14.8% did not strongly support it, and 11.3% did not support it at all. Foundation Chairman You Yinglong pointed out, “With over two-thirds of the majority of public opinion, it shows that the general public clearly supports the government’s expulsion of those openly advocating military unification in accordance with the law.”
The surveyed participants were adults aged 20 and above, surveyed from April 7-9 with a sample size of 1,080, and a margin of error of approximately plus or minus 2.98 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
The question of whether the deportation of Aya violated the spirit of democracy, rule of law, and human rights principles had sparked intense debate in Taiwan. You Yinglong stated that from an overall perspective of public opinion, the mainstream in Taiwanese society chose to support the government’s reinforcement of national security and did not believe that people should have the freedom to advocate for military unification.
Aya remained silent for two weeks after her return to China, only speaking out through an interview published in the Global People magazine, a publication under the People’s Daily owned by the Chinese Communist Party, on April 11. In the interview titled “Aya, a Mainland Chinese spouse: The story of being chased back to the mainland by ‘Taiwan independence’ elements,” she recounted her interview at Lianhua Mountain Park in Shenzhen on April 4, accompanied by a photo of her wearing a yellow dress and hat. Aya expressed in the interview, “Taiwan will always be China’s Taiwan, and the reunification of the motherland is unstoppable.”
She further claimed that her 11-year-old son, who was studying in Taiwan, had been bullied due to their family background, but through efforts, she managed to make most of his classmates acknowledge themselves as Chinese. She described, “I am like the mainland, and my child is like Taiwan. The children will run into my arms and never part again.”
These remarks received strong reactions from netizens. Some questioned, “If classmates acknowledge themselves as Chinese, why would they bully him?” while others commented that this was beyond freedom of speech and more of a strategic propaganda tool.
According to the poll “New Developments in Taiwanese People’s National Identity,” released by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation at the end of December 2024, 70% considered themselves Taiwanese, while only 10% identified as Chinese.
Regarding Aya’s public statements and background in the video, Youku channel “Honghe Commentary” host Honghe raised questions about Aya’s background. After reviewing Aya’s video, he believed her statements and expressions had “policy discourse characteristics,” emphasizing that only officials who had been influenced long-term within the system could easily say such highly policy-oriented cliches.
He pointed out that Aya’s expression of the Chinese Communist Party’s Taiwan policy even exceeded the statements of some spokespersons from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwan Affairs Office, remarking that “this is not something an ordinary ‘little pink’ could say.”
Furthermore, Aya had claimed to serve as the “Heilongjiang Province Cross-Strait Youth Ambassador,” a position within the United Front Work system of the Chinese Communist Party. Compared to American pro-Communist overseas Chinese leaders, Aya showed a much more skilled understanding and expression of Chinese Communist Party policies, indicating that she was not someone absorbed by the Unified Front but rather someone employed to influence others.
Honghe observed that in Aya’s video “Aya in Taiwan,” when she quoted former Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaoye saying, “In a sense, the Chinese Civil War has not ended yet,” this viewpoint suggested that she viewed Taiwan as a “rebel regime,” displaying a high level of understanding of sensitive political discourse.
He added, “She should be very clear about what saying these things in Taiwan implies.”
Honghe also criticized her political logic, arguing that from a historical perspective, the real rebellious regime was the Chinese Communist Party, but the situation had changed due to historical circumstances.
YouTube channel host Zhang Yao directly pointed out in his program that Aya’s interview in “Global People” was part of a Chinese Communist Party political operation. He highlighted that Aya remained silent for two weeks after her deportation, not out of personal choice but as part of the rhythm and script arranged by the Chinese Communist Party: “The Chinese Communist Party arranges when and what she says.”
Zhang Yao bluntly expressed that the timing of the interview’s release amid tense Sino-American trade relations and the tightening of speech by the Chinese Communist Party indicated political considerations: “This is a political charade. The entire script was already written, and Aya is just acting. Aya is the actress, and the Communist Party is the director.”
He urged Taiwanese society to view the interview as political propaganda rather than a simple personal interview, emphasizing that it is a meticulously directed narrative battle.
According to the Taiwan Immigration Agency, if Aya stops promoting her stance on military unification in the future, she can apply for a family visit visa to return to Taiwan. However, after her return to China, she not only did not retract her statements but intensified her political position.
In her interview, Aya described the Taiwanese government’s expulsion as “hunting,” claiming, “There are over 400,000 mainland-born spouses in Taiwan, and I am the first one to be hunted. The DPP authorities will likely expel countless more Ayas in the future, tearing apart numerous Aya families.”
Additionally, she stated that she kept her children in Taiwan to “protect China’s Taiwan,” a statement viewed as further reinforcing her political stance. She criticized the DPP government, saying they “are most afraid of this kind of situation.”
Whether Aya’s controversial statements will affect her qualification to visit Taiwan in the future remains to be seen and requires further consideration by Taiwanese authorities.
Many Taiwanese netizens expressed dissatisfaction and skepticism towards Aya’s comments, with comments such as, “Would an ordinary mainland-born spouse have such media resources?” “Still dare to report like this, (Taiwan) has half of the population who do not identify as Chinese.” Some even said, “The wolf nature is revealed, completely disregarding the children.” Others mentioned recent sensitive cross-strait topics, stating, “Taiwanese people enjoy freedom of speech, while China performs live organ transplants.”