Regarding Chinese actor Zhang Linghe’s scheduled visit to Taiwan in October to hold fan interaction events, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council revealed the reason for rejecting his visit application.
Regarding Chinese actor Zhang Linghe’s (張凌赫) scheduled visit to Taiwan in October to hold fan interaction events, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) (陸委会) revealed the reason for rejecting his visit application.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council (国台弁) announced at a press conference on the 21st that Zhang Linghe’s application to visit Taiwan for fan meetings and other interaction events was rejected by the Taiwan authorities. The TAO criticized this as “political manipulation” by Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, claiming it “ignores the will of Taiwan’s youth” and damages cross-strait cultural exchanges.
In response, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) replied in writing on the same day with multiple reasons for rejecting the application. These included Zhang Linghe’s past repeated social media posts denying Taiwan’s status as a nation, his attendance at the “Strait Forum,” which is considered a venue for China’s united front work, and the lack of clarity regarding the purpose of his current visit to Taiwan.
According to reports, the organizing body “Taipei Performing Arts Management and Cultural Exchange Association” submitted Zhang Linghe’s entry application for this event in late August, but it was rejected without the reasons being publicly announced.
Following this explanation, comments made by Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) at a regular press conference in April are once again attracting attention. At that time, when asked if Zhang Linghe’s past posts on China’s social media Weibo (微博), such as “China Taiwan Province,” would affect the review of his visit application, he replied, “Having made such posts in the past does not determine whether a visit is approved or not. That is not our review criterion.”
Zhang Linghe’s popularity in Taiwan surged with the hit historical drama “The Grand Princess” (逐玉：翡翠の君) this spring. The drama ranked No. 1 on Netflix Taiwan’s popularity charts for 14 consecutive days, and related topics on Taiwanese social media exceeded 860 million views. Furthermore, according to Taiwan’s Google Trends search data, he holds the top search score among male actors from mainland China, showing a popularity that far surpasses other actors. (Mathilda)