Taiwan likely to ban mainland Chinese visitors for targeting supporters of Hong Kong protests or vandalising Lennon Walls
- President Tsai Ing-wen urges authorities to impose restrictions on those who bully and attack opponents or vandalise messages of support
- Island’s immigration authorities say they will examine complaints and are likely to bar visitors from returning if they are found to have acted in this manner
Taiwan is expected to ban mainland Chinese people from returning to the island if they are found to have vandalised memorials to Hong Kong anti-government protesters or bullied or attacked supporters of the movement during their visit.
On Thursday President Tsai Ing-wen ordered the relevant agencies to impose restrictions on those found to have engaged in such acts during their stay in Taiwan.
The head of the island’s immigration agency said that it would set up a task force to look into complaints and would probably bar the guilty parties.
“Regarding Chinese nationals vandalising the Lennon Walls or beating Hong Kong students, we must reiterate that we are a society ruled by the law and will never tolerate such acts,” Tsai said on Thursday.
“[We] must make certain restrictions to uphold the rule of law, social safety and order.”
In the past month, at least six Taiwanese universities have reported that on-campus Lennon Walls set up to support the Hong Kong protest movement had been vandalised by mainland students, according to the Ministry of Education.
Officials at the ministry said some mainland students had resorted to violence, such as pushing Hong Kong students down stairs or fighting with Hong Kong and Taiwanese students who tried to stop them vandalising the memorials.
In one case at I-Shou University in the southern city of Kaohsiung, a Hong Kong student was allegedly assaulted by a mainland student, who tried to strangle him for posting messages at his dormitory backing the protest movement in the city, the officials said.
On September 28, a mainland couple were questioned by police after they tore down posters and notes from a Lennon Wall at National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung.
Police said the couple, along with their child, had attacked the wall the previous day and refused to stop after a student leader tried to intervene.
The couple later told police that no one had told them they could not do so and defended their actions by saying that they thought the protests had affected stability and social order in the city.
Police also said the student who reported the incident to them had decided not to press charges after the couple apologised.
On Thursday, Chiu Feng-kuang, director general of the National Immigration Agency, said his agency would set up a task force to deal with the complaints.
“The task force will have representatives from relevant departments who will review applications by mainland visitors with previous records of vandalising or bullying others over the Hong Kong issue,” Chiu said.
He added that those people most likely would not be allowed in again after the review.
Currently, only visitors who have been prosecuted and punished for violations of local laws are barred from visiting Taiwan for a number of years, if not completely banned.
But immigration officials said that in future the task force should uphold Tsai’s instructions to be strict in dealing with mainland people who have engaged in vandalism or bullying if they apply to visit Taiwan again.
Tsai has been known for her staunch support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
On Thursday, she once again expressed regret over the Hong Kong police shooting of 18-year-old student Tsang Chi-kin during a confrontation on Tuesday and called on the Hong Kong government to hold talks aimed at restoring order.
