Taiwan Deports Japanese Man After Filming Pro-China Video in Taipei

TAIPEI, Taiwan—A Japanese national was recently deported after saying “Taiwan belongs to China” and holding a communist China flag in a social media video filmed at one of the island’s famous tourist sites, Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) announced on Aug. 25.

The NIA stated that it launched an investigation after becoming aware of the video on Aug. 24, noting that it was filmed by two Japanese nationals in Taipei’s Ximending—a vibrant neighborhood known for entertainment and shopping that is particularly popular among local youth.

As a result, one was deported, the NIA said, while the other had already left Taiwan voluntarily.

The NIA did not disclose their names. It said that they had entered Taiwan under a visa-exempt program.

“Any foreign nationals who engage in activities that endanger [Taiwan’s] interests, public safety, or public order, will be dealt with severely in accordance with the law,” the NIA stated.

In the TikTok video, Tanaka and Todomi each hold up a corner of a communist China flag, while taking turns speaking into a shared microphone. They speak primarily in Japanese, occasionally switching to Mandarin.

According to the video’s caption in Chinese, Tanaka introduces himself by saying he is in “Taiwan, China,” a phrase that aligns with the Chinese regime’s propaganda asserting territorial claim over the self-governing island. Tanaka later adds that he “loves China” and “Taiwan belongs to China.”

Speaking in Mandarin, Todomi says in the video that he and Tanaka “love China,” and he would love to see China and Japan “continue a friendly relationship.”

Citing the NIA’s announcement, Focus Taiwan reported that Tanaka was deported in the morning of Aug. 25 and has been forbidden from entering Taiwan.

The outlet added that Todomi left Taiwan after making the video, and the NIA has imposed a reentry ban on him.

In a new TikTok video posted on Aug. 26, Tanaka criticized the Taiwanese government for deporting him. Speaking in Mandarin, he said that he supports the “one-China” principle and “China’s use of force to unify Taiwan.”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never ruled Taiwan but regards the island as a renegade province and insists it must be reunited with the mainland, either through peaceful means or, if necessary, by military force. In practice, however, Taiwan is a de facto independent nation with its own democratically elected government, constitution, and military.

Many countries, including the United States, have long held a “one-China policy,” which states that there is only one sovereign state with the name “China,” which is different from the “one-China principle” under which the CCP asserts sovereignty over Taiwan. The Taiwan government has also rejected Beijing’s “one-China principle.”

“These so-called Japanese online influencers actually target Chinese audiences on platforms like Douyin, aiming to gain traffic,” Yaita wrote, referring to the Chinese version of the popular video-sharing app TikTok, according to a translation of the original Chinese text.

“They went to Ximending to make videos and deliberately offend Taiwan, all in order to earn more Renminbi,” he said, referring to the Chinese currency, also known as yuan.

“They would never dare to go to the streets of Beijing to make films with political demands because they know the iron fist of the [Chinese] Communist Party will not forgive them,” he added.

Yaita is the former Taipei bureau chief of the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun. He currently runs a Taipei-based think tank focused on Indo-Pacific strategy.

“I have observed the media industry for years. Many individuals focus solely on generating immediate traffic by creating various incidents or maliciously hyping stories. However, none of them lasts long,” Yaita said.

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