China is aiming to woo young Taiwanese with a plan to stage a cross-strait music exchange camp in the Xiamen in July, with critics claiming that retired officials from the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Ministry of Culture have been participating in the planning of the event.
The music camp, to be named “Cross-strait Youth Scream,” is scheduled to take place on Xiamen’s Guanyinshan beach from July 15 to Aug. 31 and is to include a music plaza, Taiwanese street food, and the demonstration and sale of cultural and creative products. Both Taiwanese young performers and camp staff are to be paid.
The main sponsors are said to be China’s Fujian Province Taiwanese Association and Taiwan’s Chinese Education, Culture and Economy Promotion Association (CECEPA).
It is said that the planners include former Ministry of Culture chief secretary Tsai Hsiang (蔡湘), who is the secretary-general of the Chinese Cultural and Creative Park Association (CCCPA), and National Hsinchu Living Arts Center director Chuang San-hsiu (莊三修).
The president of the CECEPA is Chang Yung-shan (張永山), a former director of the MAC’s Department of Information and Liaison before the Democratic Progressive Party took office in 2000, after which he was moved to the Department of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs.
In 2004 he was appointed a MAC counselor and in 2008, when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) took over the presidency and Su Chi (蘇起) was appointed to head the National Security Council, Chang was recruited to be a section chief.
The CECEPA was established in August 2011.
Local cultural workers questioned whether retired MAC officials should be helping the Chinese government in its efforts to advocate unification.
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tainan city councilor Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said the plan shows that China has changed its tactics from those that relied on compradors and top KMT officials, to ones that target young Taiwanese.
Wang accused the retired officials participating in the event of “selling out national resources to gain personal benefit by facilitating the Chinese Communist Party.”
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) called for a review of the laws that prohibit retired officials from benefiting from taxpayers’ money, while at the same time aiding Chinese propaganda on unification.
A MAC official said Chang’s activities after retirement are restrained by revolving door regulations that require him to report his activities to the government for review, but that the music camp would not count as one of them. It would merely be a problem with social perception, the official added.
The CECEPA said Chang is the association’s president, but declined to comment further or provide Chang’s telephone number.
CCCPA vice chairman Chen Wan-fu (陳萬福) confirmed that the Fujian Province Taiwanese Association did contact the association about the event, but said the planning is still “ongoing” and that it has not been decided whether the CCCPA would be a sponsor or whether Tsai would attend.
Chuang said he had never heard of the event and did not know why his name appeared in the plan.
Additional reporting by Peng Hsien-chun and Yang Yuan-ting
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