“Don’t let Taiwan become China!” Wang Yuyang supports Trump: Opposes the blockade of vape speech

Yu-Yang Wang, a WHO tobacco harm reduction expert, publicly supported US President Donald Trump’s stance on defending vaping policies today (16), saying that “the United States is on the right side of public health and personal freedom,” and warned the Taiwan government that “blocking websites and punishing speech without legislative procedures” has seriously crossed the red line of the rule of law. He urged: “Don’t let Taiwan become China with censorship of speech!”

According to Taiwan Web, a number of e-cigarette-related websites have recently been forcibly removed from the shelves and blocked by administrative units. An announcement appeared on the website screen saying “Violation of the Tobacco Harm Prevention Act, disconnected from the Internet in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Health and Welfare”, which triggered fierce controversy over freedom of speech and Internet governance. Wang Yuyang pointed out that such actions have not been processed by the court and even lack authorization from Congress, which is tantamount to administrative agencies censoring speech directly, which runs counter to the basic principles of a democratic society.

“We condemn the CCP’s censorship of speech, but quietly implement a digital gag order in our own backyard. This is the biggest contradiction and irony.” Wang Yuyang criticized that the Taiwan government is conducting broad censorship in the name of “public health”, which not only affects user-generated content (UGC), social sharing and educational materials, but also punishes those who simply repost the remarks of international researchers. This has exceeded the reasonable boundaries of law enforcement.

Wang Yuyang specifically mentioned that the Trump administration had planned to tighten regulations between 2019 and 2024 due to the increase in e-cigarette use among teenagers, but Trump himself ultimately took a more rational, scientific and pragmatic approach, allowing harm-reducing tobacco products to continue to be legally taxed and regulated after being reviewed by the FDA PMTA or MRTP procedures, and emphasized that “e-cigarettes help people quit smoking” and “protect the health of teenagers.” Wang said: “This is not to support Trump personally, but to support a science-based, democratically governed tobacco control policy.”

He added that e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, nicotine pouches and nicotine sheets are legally managed items in most OECD countries around the world, and consumer rights are protected through strict labeling and product review. In contrast, Taiwan is currently using administrative means to completely ban discussions, media reports and even the circulation of research data, seriously stifling the space for discussion of public issues.

Regarding the current situation where the amendment to the Tobacco Control Act has not yet been sent to the Executive Yuan, but the website has already been punished, Wang Yuyang questioned: “This is a world where ‘no legislation has been enacted, but fines have already been issued.’ We should ask: On what legal basis does the Ministry of Health and Welfare deprive people of their right to speak out and to know? Is it the Tobacco Control version of the Digital Intermediary Services Act?”

He called on Taiwan’s ruling and opposition parties and the Legislative Yuan to pay immediate attention to the matter, requesting the administrative authorities to suspend all measures related to speech penalties, and launch a cross-party hearing, inviting experts on freedom of information, public health and human rights to clarify the dispute. He also suggested that the Ministry of Digital Development should stand up to defend basic Internet freedoms rather than just act as an executor.

Finally, Wang Yuyang emphasized: “A truly progressive tobacco prevention policy must be based on scientific evidence, democratic procedures and human rights protection, not on silencing, deleting posts and keyword filtering to package justice.”

Further reading:

Fighting for votes! Kamala Harris teamed up with Oprah to reveal she owns a gun, while Trump called for “saving e-cigarettes”

https://news.ttv.com.tw/news/11309210000300W

[E-cigarette chaos] New anti-smoking law severely punishes social platform operators: only totalitarian countries will review posts in advance

https://www.mirrormedia.mg/story/20241122inv004

A fine of NT$400,000 or more! Analysis of the e-cigarette storm: The government wants to curb it, and the industry wants to cooperate, but what is the problem?

https://www.bnext.com.tw/article/81943/law-of-electronic-cigarette-3?

Open Culture Foundation calls on the government to abide by the Constitution! Digital human rights cannot be sacrificed for the amendment of the Tobacco Prevention Law

https://www.peopo.org/news/801892

The price of preventing e-cigarettes is Taiwan’s freedom of online speech?

https://blog.ocf.tw/2025/07/e-cigar.html

Tobacco harm reduction expert Wang Yuyang supports TiEA’s proposal and once again calls on the government to promote e-cigarette taxation and regulation to achieve a smoke-free Taiwan