In recent days, a group of five Taiwanese girls recorded a dance video on Ximending pedestrian street in Taipei, Taiwan. However, this video was banned by the short video platform TikTok (overseas version of Douyin) as it featured flashes of the flag with the words “Taiwan, a New Country.” Additionally, some netizens pointed out that there were posters in the video rejecting the forced organ harvesting by the Chinese Communist Party.
On June 18th, Makoto Hara, a Japanese senior media person and current affairs commentator living in Taipei, shared on a social media platform X, “My good friend, Mr. Haru Hara, a Japanese living in Taiwan, uploaded a video of his friend’s daughter. Several girls were dancing in Ximending, everything seemed normal. However, the video was uploaded to TikTok and deleted two hours later, with the TikTok account frozen.”
Hara inquired with netizens, “Can you all guess the reason behind this? Mr. Hara mentioned: ‘I deeply feel the fear brought by China’s image censorship.'”
On Facebook, Makoto Hara lamented, “It seems that the appearance of the flag saying ‘Taiwan, a New Country’ on the screen is the reason for it being deleted by TikTok.”
He also mentioned that his friend does business in China and is likely to be blacklisted by China, according to his friend. From the original video, it can be seen that five girls were recording a dance video in the commercial district of Ximending in Taipei, with the flag saying “Taiwan, a New Country” flashing multiple times.
Apart from the “Taiwan, a New Country” flag as mentioned by Haru Hara, netizen “i547” also commented, “There is a poster rejecting the forced organ harvesting by the Chinese Communist Party in the background.”
Moreover, many other netizens have left comments expressing their views on the matter. “Allen Fox” mentioned, “The Chinese Communist Party is anti-Japanese. They are very meticulous, thinking that such a beautiful Japanese dance will spread the spirit of the enemy country, and children in the Communist China no longer have the space to freely express themselves. The Communist Party fears sparking thoughts among Chinese children.”
“Ted Wang” highlighted, “China is a country of what kind, you should be very clear. When Taiwanese go to China, can they freely decide what to say, who to meet, and what to do? Ordinary Taiwanese have limited influence in China, and are under surveillance everywhere. Those with status who go to China, who to meet, what to say, and where to say it are all arranged. What can be broadcast to the Chinese people has been filtered.”
“Face” added, “The international community should form a consensus on boycotting TikTok and work on implementing it. Young people, regardless of politics, need politicians to lead the way.”
“Wayne Lee” stated, “So, the U.S. wants to ban TikTok because it is indeed a tool of the Chinese Communist Party. However, the U.S. financial interest groups are too powerful, making it a difficult matter. But one thing, TikTok dare not arbitrarily close American users’ accounts! Have your friends post using an American account; it will last forever online!”
In recent years, the short video platform TikTok (overseas version of Douyin) has become popular in Taiwan, with its parent company being Beijing ByteDance Technology Co., Ltd.
On June 13th, the Grand Taiwan Alliance held a book launch event for “The Boiling Moat: Urgent Actions to Defend Taiwan,” where the book’s editor and main author, former White House Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger, expressed that Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is waging psychological warfare, information warfare, and legal warfare against Taiwan. Taiwan needs to take more proactive measures to combat this and uphold Taiwan’s democracy and freedom. Little Red Book and TikTok are “tools of the Chinese Communist United Front,” where although individuals can freely choose the content to upload, the promotion and dissemination are decided by Communist Party members and ByteDance’s editors, controlling the speech.
Pottinger pointed out that the Communist Party often talks about the three battles against Taiwan, including information warfare, psychological warfare, and legal warfare. Following President Tsai Ing-wen’s inauguration on May 20th, China’s military actions around Taiwan resemble a blockade. This is part of psychological warfare, creating psychological impacts because Taiwanese can elect their leaders through votes.