Summer tours to China organized by the China Youth Corps are being conducted in collaboration with Chinese propaganda units, the Mainland Affairs Council said on Thursday.
Schools in Taiwan should not dance to the tune of China’s propaganda and should refrain from posting or distributing promotional material for such tours, council spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said.
Furthermore, organizations in Taiwan and China are prohibited from recruiting students for China’s educational institutions, Chiu said, citing the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The council would continue to monitor related developments, he said in response to media queries about reports that the organization has been recruiting senior-high school students for educational trips to China this summer.
The China Youth Corps has reportedly been offering to help students assess future trends in education and employment.
The summer tour activities promoted by the organization were being organized in collaboration with the “Kunming Taiwan Compatriots Fraternal Association” in Yunnan Province and the “China Friendship Association of Cultural Circle in Beijing,” which are both considered propaganda units working against Taiwan, Chiu said.
The China Youth Corps was established in 1952 to help train young people as a force to fight communism, but over the years its focus has gradually shifted to providing recreational services to young Taiwanese at home and abroad.
Separately, Chiu said that Taiwanese are urged not to participate in any discussions related to China’s “one country, two systems” formula at the upcoming Straits Forum in Xiamen, China, as the forum is part of Beijing’s scheme to ultimately annex Taiwan through a “united front” strategy.
Taiwanese organizations and citizens are not permitted to sign agreements or memorandums of understanding, strike illegal deals or forge alliances with Chinese authorities that conflict with national interests, he said, reiterating the council’s position on the issue.
Organizers of the Straits Forum, scheduled for Saturday next week, have added 300 to 500 slots for complimentary trips for first-time participants, sources said.
There are six itineraries to choose from, each lasting four days, and they include tourist hot spots such as the ancient city of Zhangzhou, the Caoan Temple in Quanzhou and Gulangyu in Xiamen, they said.
Organizers reportedly hope to promote Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “five points” — announced in a speech in January about Taiwan that included a plan to explore a Taiwanese version of the “one country, two systems” formula — during the tours, the sources said.
The agenda for the forum was previously published a month before it was scheduled to take place, but this year’s agenda is nowhere to be found on its Web site, which is unusual, they said.
Deputy mayors from Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung have been scheduled to attend the forum, they added.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua
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