TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Police in China announced an arrest notice for two Taiwanese influencers on Thursday.
Quanzhou Police Department offered a bounty of NT$1.1 million (US$35,000) for assistance detaining Wen Tzu-yu (温子渝) and Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), ABC reported. The two influencers gained notoriety in 2024 after releasing a two-part documentary that exposed the tactics of China’s United Front Work Department to target Taiwanese celebrities.
Wen, a video producer known as Pa Chiung (八炯), worked with Chen, a rapper known as Minnan Wolf, to secretly film interactions with officials during a visit to China. At the time, the pair pretended to be pro-Chinese influencers to gain the trust of United Front Work Department agents.
The documentary produced by the pair drew the ire of the Chinese government for exposing how the CCP manipulates Taiwanese celebrities working in China. The Chinese government accused the pair of disseminating “anti-China” content online and promoting Taiwan independence.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council criticized the arrest notice, emphasizing that Beijing does not exercise any legal jurisdiction over Taiwan. MAC said the bounties are “just for show” and intended to create division and conflict in Taiwan.
In response to the arrest notices, both Wen and Chen dismissed the threats on social media. Wen likened his case to Puma Shen (沈伯洋), a Taiwanese legislator recently targeted with an arrest notice by Chinese police for “separatist” activities.
On Friday, Chen Po-Yuan went to a police station in Taichung, Taiwan to report online threats related to China’s arrest notice, reported UDN. Commenters on Threads reportedly made threats of violence against the rapper, while discussing the bounty offered by Chinese authorities.
Chen later posted that he “tried to surrender to the police” in Taichung, but they would not arrest him. He joked that Chinese netizens must be devastated to learn that Taiwan’s police didn't arrest him because Taiwan is not part of China.
