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Editorial: Keep out China's propaganda

In a questioning session in the legislature on Thursday, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) said that Chinese radio stations want to begin joint broadcasts in Taiwan by cooperating with local radio stations, and that there is a possibility of Chinese capital entering Taiwan during the current reorganization of broadcasting licenses. Government Information Office Director Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) verified that China indeed intends to use middlemen to apply for permission to set up radio stations here, purchase badly managed radio stations and use joint broadcasts or buy air time to broadcast pro-unification programs. Lin called on people to clearly recognize that China's unification strategy includes entering Taiwanese households and the minds of Taiwanese people through the media.

The rumor that Chinese capital is entering Taiwanese media is yesterday's news. When some badly managed media suddenly receive injections of overseas capital, it's worth investigating whether these injections include Chinese capital. There are also concrete examples of Hong Kong capital entering Taiwanese media in recent years. After Hong Kong's return to China, the former British colony has been thoroughly under Chinese control. Hong Kong capital is now in effect Chinese capital. We must not let down our guard just because we are dealing with Hong Kong capital. The government should check carefully whether Chinese capital has entered the country while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been selling off its assets.

China has made every effort to infiltrate Taiwan's media in order to provide cover for its propaganda campaign. Many Taiwanese media organizations already lean toward China. If Beijing directly entered the market, the consequences for Taiwan's media environment are unthinkable. The government must therefore prepare for this, so as not to be caught flat-footed once the Chinese gain access to our homes.

The democratic, free, diverse, open and wealthy country of Taiwan is the envy of many Chinese people, who are eager to come here -- legally or illegally -- to make money. This has already become a beacon for China's development, and a tool for us in resisting annexation by China.

The content of China's propaganda is not as vivid and attractive as Taiwan's media content, and so there isn't much of a market for it here. We are not afraid of such propaganda, and are confident we can counteract its effects. Nevertheless, this free and diverse society may offer loopholes through which Beijing can attack us. In particular, the free-market nature of Taiwan's media -- which is open to domestic and foreign capital -- is the nation's Achilles' heel.

Buying up Taiwanese media organizations and changing the media environment from the inside is much more cost-effective and direct than propaganda campaigns as a way of influencing the public. Entering the Taiwanese media using Hong Kong capital as a prelude to directly manipulating the Taiwanese media is a new front in China's unification campaign. Therefore, when it comes to Hong Kong or Chinese investment in the media, we should not be concerned only with free-market principles.

Beijing is perfectly aware that after its failure in Hong Kong, "one country, two systems" has no appeal here. Even so, China hopes to use the same model as it used with Hong Kong to annex Taiwan. China is seeking to replicate the conditions that existed prior to the 1997 handover of Hong Kong in order to stage-manage a rerun of the "peaceful transition of power."

Fighting the decisive battle outside your own borders is a strategy that is as suited to propaganda as it is to military deployment. If we are to counter this deployment of propaganda, we must not allow China to bring the unification battle into our country, our homes and our minds. Only in this way can we ensure our long-term security.
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