Interview | A Chinese Writer in Taiwan Argues Mainland Spouses Should Not Be Treated as 'Anti-Communist Toys'

The inauguration this week of Lee Chen-hsiu (李貞秀)  as Taiwan's first legislator of mainland Chinese descent marked a historic milestone for the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), yet the occasion was immediately overshadowed by fierce debate.

Critics across Taiwan's political spectrum questioned her allegiance, demanding she renounce her People's Republic of China (PRC) citizenship—a legal impossibility under Beijing's laws without first holding foreign citizenship—while supporters decried the attacks as discriminatory.

ForLuan Shangguan (a pen name), a writer, influencer, and prominent voice within Taiwan's mainland spouse community, the controversy surrounding Lee is merely the latest chapter in a long saga of stigmatization.

Once a staunch supporter of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and a self-described "Chinese liberal intellectual," Shangguan has undergone a profound political transformation. Her journey—from romanticizing Taiwan's democracy to becoming a vocal critic of the "Green camp's" treatment of immigrants—offers a rare window into the alienation felt by one of Taiwan's largest minority groups.

According to data from Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior, there are more than 380,000 spouses from mainland China currently living in Taiwan. They represent nearly two-thirds of all non-native spouses in the country, a demographic weight that Shangguan argues is rarely matched by political representation or social acceptance. 

Shangguan's path to Taiwan was paved not by marriage, she insists, but by ideology. A journalism graduate in China, she gravitated toward the country’s nascent civil rights movement after university, connecting with human rights lawyers and dissident artists like Ai Weiwei.

"People like us—mainland liberal intellectuals—understand Taiwan better than ordinary mainlanders," Shangguan toldStorm Media.

"We know about Taiwan's movements and democratic transition, making us more interested in understanding the DPP."

She visited Taiwan as a tourist in 2015, later publishing a travelogue of her experiences. At the time, she admits to viewing the island through a filter of romanticized democracy. When she moved to Taiwan with her Taiwanese husband following the outbreak of COVID-19, she felt she had arrived in a spiritual home.

"In my first two years in Taiwan, I didn't even realize I was a mainland spouse," she said. "I was simply a liberal intellectual."

The honeymoon period began to fade not because of personal grievances, but through professional investigation. As a columnist for outlets including Radio Free Asia and Deutsche Welle, Shangguan began digging into historical narratives that complicated the black-and-white view of cross-strait relations often presented by Taiwanese mainstream media.

In September 2023, while collaborating with a Japanese director on a project about "anti-communist volunteers" from the Korean War who settled in Taiwan, she uncovered uncomfortable truths. Her interviews with former prisoners of war in Taoyuan's Yangmei district revealed a history that contradicted the standard "anti-authoritarian" narrative she had subscribed to.

"I realized I had onlypartially understood things," she said.

Fearing that her findings would be rejected by a Taiwanese public conditioned to a specific historical view, she hesitated to publish locally.

Subsequent reporting in Kinmen—a Taiwanese island group located just kilometers from the Chinese city of Xiamen—further deepened her disillusionment. She found that while Kinmen residents felt a cultural affinity with Xiamen, this was often misconstrued by Taiwanese society as support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

"Only Kinmen has truly sacrificed and fought to protect the Republic of China, but why do Kinmen people deserve such comments?" she asked, noting the intense online criticism directed at young Kinmenese.

The breaking point for Shangguan came during the 2024 election cycle, specifically the controversy surrounding TPP nominee Xu Chunying(徐春鶯).Xu, a mainland spouse, faced a barrage of accusations regarding her loyalty and background.

Shangguan was shocked to see Taiwanese intellectuals and elected officials circulate unverified rumors.

"Many things are simply rumors and distortions of truth," she said. "Ordinary netizens saying such things is one thing, but why do Taiwan's intellectuals and elected officials also lie?"

This prompted a re-evaluation of her own community. Admitting she once harbored prejudice against other mainland spouses, she began researching the history of marriage migration across the Taiwan Strait.

What she found was a legacy of systemic vulnerability. Early mainland spouses often lacked work permits and lived under the total economic control of their in-laws. Many endured domestic violence and isolation but refused to seek help or divorce for fear of losing custody of their children and being deported.

"Some mainland spouses lived such miserable lives, and they harbor some resentful emotions toward Taiwan or their in-laws—so what?" Shangguan said.

She argues that equating this personal resentment with being a "fellow traveler of the CCP" is a convenient but false political narrative.

Shangguan is now a vocal advocate for allowing mainland spouses in Taiwan more autonomy, arguing that their political views are diverse and primarily driven by family welfare, not Beijing's directives.

"Mainland spouses' children are all Taiwanese," she emphasized. "Mothers always prioritize their children first."

However, the political climate remains tense. Following the deportation of freelance journalist Wang Zhian (王志安) and the expulsion of mainland spouse Liu Chen-ya (known as "Yaya") last year, Shangguan noted a chilling effect within the community.

"It reminded me of mainland China during COVID-19... that tense state of speech," she said. "But I'm in Taiwan. Doesn't Taiwan have freedom of speech?"

She contends that Taiwan's current administration treats overseas mainland communities as "anti-communist tools"—useful for propaganda when they criticize Beijing, but denied residency rights, dignity, or trust when they seek integration.

"If Taiwan internationally promotes itself as a 'beacon of human rights' and 'beacon of democracy'... it cannot do the same things as the CCP," Shangguan concluded.

"The CCP never claimed to be a beacon of human rights." （Related： Opinion | As AI Moves from Advice to Action, a ‘Responsibility Vacuum’ Emerges ｜ Latest ）