China might be targeting borough wardens and neighborhood chiefs for “united front” tactics via the planned Chinese Taipei Association of Village and Neighborhood Heads, officials and academics have warned.
The association is in the process of being founded and sources have identified its leader as Chin Jung-hui (勤榮輝), warden of Datun Borough (大屯) in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投).
A meeting to discuss issues related to the founding of the organization is scheduled for Friday next week.
The association’s draft charter, which was leaked to the media, says its mission is “to link the borough, village and neighborhood officials’ associations in each county and city to cultivate [a] friendly spirit ... assist in promoting government policy and encourage grassroots participation in international or Chinese regional tourism and exchanges.”
Asked for comment on Monday, Chin said that he knows “right from wrong” and is “not afraid of being targeted for united front work.”
The association’s preparatory committee has 30 members and is to hold its first meeting on Friday next week, Chin said, although he was “unable to recall their names.”
“Borough wardens are elected officials and we represent the public. People should not defame us,” he said.
Taiwan Thinktank researcher Tung Li-wen (董立文) said that China relied on a compliant government under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to do its united front work.
In recent years, China has given up on intermediaries and has opted to directly cultivate “red power” in Taiwan, Tung said.
However, the government should not prevent the nation’s village and borough officials or students from visiting China, Tung said, adding that “Taiwanese should cross the Strait to see exactly what Chinese Communists are all about.”
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office frequently uses economic incentives, such as free travel arrangements, to butter up local government officials and prominent members of society, a Mainland Affairs Council official said.
Although polls have repeatedly shown that such tactics are ineffective in boosting China’s public image in Taiwan, the office continues to rely on them as a routine part of its work, the official said.
The government does not wish to regulate private initiatives for cross-strait exchange, but it does call on the public to be conscious of the risks of dealing with Chinese officials, the official added.
In July last year, 133 Taipei borough wardens visited Shanghai on a six-day trip, with each reporting NT$15,000 in expenses that they paid out of pocket.
They were received by the office’s Shanghai office and were later photographed with its director, Li Wenhui (李文輝), at a banquet holding a banner that read: “China’s unification is our responsibility.”
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