Former CCTV host seeks political asylum in Taiwan

• By Chen Yu-fu and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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Former China Central Television (CCTV) talk show host Cheng Yuanjun (程萬軍) yesterday sought political asylum in Taiwan, a day after arriving at Taoyuan International Airport on a connecting flight from Thailand.

In a video posted on X, Cheng said he was appealing to Taiwan to grant him temporary asylum on humanitarian grounds while he sought permanent resettlement in a third country.

Cheng said he previously served as editor-in-chief of the journal Law and Life and hosted legal affairs programs on state-run CCTV.

Former China Central Television talk show host Cheng Yuanjun is pictured in an undated photograph.

Photo: Screen grab from Chen’s X account

He said he fell afoul of Chinese authorities in 2019 after a video surfaced showing him discussing rulers whose actions had led to the downfall of their countries during an internal meeting of a government agency. The footage was subsequently reported to authorities.

Chinese police arrested him in Beijing in November that year on charges of illegal business operations, and a court sentenced him to six years in prison shortly afterward, he said.

During his incarceration, Cheng wrote a manuscript titled An Unyielding Free Spirit: The Confession of a Chinese Political Prisoner, which was published by independent Chinese-language online journal Yi Bao (議報) in November last year, he said.

He said that after his release, he went into self-imposed exile in Thailand, where he lived in fear that Thai authorities might extradite him to China, as they had done in the cases of other dissidents.

Cheng said he submitted a report on the risks facing dissidents in Thailand to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Oct. 17.

Fearing that he could be sent back to China to face persecution, Cheng said he has no choice but to seek temporary asylum in Taiwan.

“I only want to create and freely express myself with what remains of my life,” he said.

Under Taiwanese law, Chinese nationals who arrive by air without a valid entry permit could be sent back to the previous destination on their flight, a source familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency yesterday declined to comment further on Cheng’s current situation, saying it was coordinating with relevant agencies and would handle the case through existing procedures.