Taiwanese internet celebrity banned in China after announcing election bid as member of pro-democracy party

Taiwanese content creator Chung Wei-ting (仲惟鼎 Zhòng Wéidǐng), better known as AmoGood (谷阿莫 gǔāmò) on the Chinese internet, has been restricted from posting on virtually every major social media site in the Peoples’ Republic of China after he announced a bid to become a core member of the pro-independence New Power Party (NPP) in Taiwan.

The temporary suspensions were put into effect on the evening of Saturday, February 4, less than a day after Chung made local headlines in Taiwan because of his election effort. As per Taipei-based publication the Central News Agency, Chung wrote a 2,000-word manifesto in Mandarin pledging his allegiance to the NPP, announcing that he would participate in the election of a seat in the party’s central 15-member decision-making committee because he wanted to “examine the reasons for the party’s decline” and “hold senior leaders accountable with his online fame.”

Chung also told the news outlet that once elected, he would propose a set of reforms and would not rule out the possibility of running to be chairman.

Born out of Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement in 2014, a historic event in the island’s democracy that involved a wave of protests and eventually fueled political changes in the 2016 Taiwanese presidential election, the NPP is an ally of the majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the smallest of four political parties with seats in the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s highest government body.

When established, the party saw its main mission as broadening the reach of progressive politics among young people, transforming them into activists to push forward a pro-independence agenda. The momentum was in the NPP’s favor for several years, but the party suffered a string of defeats in local elections last year, which caused internal turmoil characterized by hand-wringing and resignations.

Although there has been no official word from Chinese authorities regarding the blocking of Chung, his affiliation with the party was almost certainly the trigger. As of the time of writing, Chung is still locked out of his accounts on Weibo, where he has over 11 million followers, and popular youth-oriented video-sharing website Bilibili, where he has almost 2.3 million followers.

However, Chung’s accounts have not been removed and the names of his internet persona, “AmoGood” and “谷阿莫” are still searchable on the Chinese internet. But it’s possible that the partial blocking will progress into a blanket ban, Fāng Kěchéng 方可成, a China media researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told The China Project. “It’s likely that the social media platforms are still waiting for further instructions from the Cyberspace Administration of China,” said Fang.

A comeback is unlikely for Chung

Regardless of the final punishment, Chung’s fans are already abandoning him in droves. On Weibo, comments are overwhelmingly critical. Many say that although they appreciated the entertainment he provided over the years, supporting Taiwan’s independence is a “redline.” Communist Party-affiliated agencies have also weighed in on the discourse. On Monday, the Sichuan branch of the Communist Youth League of China lambasted Chung on Weibo, accusing him of “making money in China while being two-faced.”

Chung belongs to a popular category of content creators on the Chinese internet who cultivate followings by condensing movies and TV series into short videos with humorous explanations of storylines. Some of his most-viewed content includes a video titled “Speed-watching Fifty Shades of Grey in two and a half minutes,” and a series named “Speed-watching Harry Potter in nine minutes.”

Unable to access his accounts on Chinese social media sites, including Weibo and Douyin, Chung has been very active on YouTube — which is blocked in China. In a video posted on February 5, he told his YouTube subscribers that although he had anticipated the suspensions, he was still disappointed at how things unfolded for him. “This is proof that there’s no real freedom in the Chinese Communist Party regime,” he said. “It’s an internationally recognized fact that the Republic of China, Taiwan, exists as a de facto country.” In multiple livestream sessions, Chung invited young members of the NPP to share their understanding of Taiwan’s democracy and stories about political participation.

Senior leaders of the NPP have rallied around Chung. In an interview with Taipei Times, NPP Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭 Wáng Wǎnyù) said that the controversy surrounding Chung showed that “Taiwanese people have the protected right of free speech, while Chinese people cannot enjoy democracy and freedom under the CCP regime.”

In support of Chung, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智 Qiū Xiǎnzhì) told the newspaper that “the freedom of speech of those who support Taiwan independence or even becoming a state of the U.S. should all be protected.” He added, “Why China would think that Taiwanese people or internet celebrities would not support an independent Taiwan is beyond me, and this shows China has a long way to go before it becomes a truly democratic state.”

Chiu stressed that Chung should be prepared for a heightened level of security as a political figure. Chiu also pointed to a past scandal, where Chung was sued by local studios for copyright infringement in his video: Chiu said that Chung still “owes the public an explanation, and lawsuits would be handled through the judicial system.”

Taiwanese celebrities are expected to pick a side and stick to it

Mainland China has long insisted that Taiwan is an integral part of its territory and rejected any reference to the self-governed island as a sovereign nation. When U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brushed aside repeated warnings from Beijing and visited Taiwan last year, strong reactions erupted on Chinese social media, where rage and calls for countermeasures echoed.

Caught up in the intensifying crossfire, a slew of international businesses have incurred Beijing’s wrath in recent years for listing Taiwan as a separate country on their official websites. Foreign celebrities have drawn ire from Beijing as well on the Taiwan issue. In 2017, American pop singer Katy Perry was denied entry to China over a performance in Taiwan, where she draped a Taiwanese flag over a dress covered with sunflowers, which symbolized Taiwan’s anti-China protest in 2014. More recently, American action-movie actor and professional wrestler John Cena apologized to his Chinese fans after calling Taiwan “a country” in an interview he gave to a Taiwanese broadcaster.

The level of scrutiny faced by Taiwanese celebrities is even higher. In 2017, China blacklisted four dozen overseas entertainers for expressing political views disliked by Beijing. Among them were Taiwanese singer-actress Vivian Hsu (徐若瑄 Xú Ruòxuān), who once referred to China’s nemesis Japan as her “stepmother,” and punk band Fire EX, which created songs for the 2014 Sunflower Movement.

Taiwanese entertainers who want to keep their presence on the Chinese internet and access to the Chinese market have no choice but to walk a difficult tightrope to stay apolitical. Although there’s room for ambiguity when it comes to revealing their political stances, Taiwanese stars are increasingly under pressure to “pick a side and stick to a market,” said Fang. The worsening environment is partly due to “the political fluctuations in China-Taiwan relations” and partly due to “the change of public opinion atmosphere on Chinese social media,” he added.

“On platforms like Weibo, users are incentivized to engage in behaviors like digging up dirt on celebrities, making complaints about them, and catching what they see as traitors,” Fang said. “Individuals can draw traffic from doing these things and platforms often amplify their voices because this is a way for them to show political loyalty to the party.”