Ms Zhao, who calls herself “Xiaowei” online, often posts videos featuring a large Chinese flag, saying things such as: “Come on, my fellow Taiwanese, let’s unite and go home together!!!” She is one of three social-media influencers—all of them women from the Chinese mainland who had married Taiwanese men—who were told in March they were no longer welcome to live on the island.

The United States doubled down on its decades-old support for Taiwan as China flexed its muscles with a second day of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, including live-fire drills.

The Chinese military staged a second day of exercises around Taiwan on Wednesday, launching live-fire strikes in the East China Sea and practicing blockade operations near crucial shipping lanes to the east and west of the island.