Shanghai's towers are certainly impressive, but Holger Chen began expressing his amazement even before leaving the airport. "The toilets are so stylish! There's even a door," said the heavily-tattooed man as he passed the terminal's perfectly ordinary restrooms on June 10 − a direct contradiction of the old image of unsanitary Chinese public toilets.

Yet this Taiwanese influencer, who wears his masculinity as a badge of honor with his broad shoulders revealing his passion for weightlifting, has seen much more in his life. A former member of the triads – the Chinese mafia – Chen became a highly popular commentator on Taiwanese social media. After leaving organized crime behind, he reinvented himself as a gym owner and became a vocal critic of China's infiltration tactics that target the self-governing island.

In 2019, Chen even organized a major demonstration in Taipei to denounce China's influence over certain Taiwanese media outlets and the links between the triads and Chinese authorities, after gang members in Hong Kong attacked young protesters defending their freedom. Speaking out in this way led to Chen being shot three times – twice in the arm, once in the leg – on a Taipei street one August night in 2020. An acclaimed documentary on the triads told the story of his transformation into a prominent figure who condemns Chinese threats.

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