As part of its “united front” tactics, China has been grooming young Taiwanese to become Internet celebrities or Internet program hosts, a source said on condition of anonymity.
Over the past year, about 1,000 Taiwanese living in China have participated in training programs and competitions for show hosts held in several cities, including Xiamen, Wenzhou and Hangzhou, the source said on Saturday.
“Beijing is taking advantage of the openness of the Internet to spread propaganda about acceptance of China, and about ‘national security,’” the source said, adding that Taiwan’s national security officials are racing to fix the problem.
Chinese infiltration of social media in Taiwan gained momentum in 2019, when it purchased several Taiwanese Facebook pages, and over the past two years it has been employing Taiwanese Internet celebrities to help spread propaganda, the source said.
One show host competition held in Xiamen in December last year — sponsored by the city and China’s Fujian Provincial Government — was part of a five-month program that started in August, and involved training courses and a summer camp, the source said.
A separate training program was held in Wenzhou in December by the city’s Chinese government-run Taiwanese entrepreneurship and employment center, they said.
The government of Zhejiang Province, where Wenzhou is located, has said that it would offer training to 1,200 young Taiwanese, including “at least 30 to host e-commerce” platforms, the source said.
The Hangzhou Taiwan Compatriots-Invested Enterprises Association last year started a three-year show host training program for 1,000 young Taiwanese, they said.
“Beijing has been trying to lure young Taiwanese to China for years now. Since the [COVID-19] pandemic put a halt to that, it has been expanding its Internet influence campaign,” the source said.
China’s motivation to train Internet celebrities and show hosts probably emerged after it ran into legal trouble trying to hire Taiwanese Internet celebrities, they said.
“Basically, Beijing believes that by employing young Taiwanese to spread its propaganda, other Taiwanese will listen,” the source added.
The Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法), which was passed last year, has a very limited scope, and does not give authorities power to counter Chinese infiltration through the use of sensitive technology or Taiwanese media, the source said.
“Beijing knows the Internet is open, and Taiwan has no clear laws to counter Chinese infiltration through the Internet,” the source said. “Perhaps this is an area that could be regulated by a [proposed] ministry of digital development.”
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
PLANE HIT: The Israeli military said it shot down an Iranian Air Force fighter over Tehran, while an Iranian warship sank off Sri Lanka, with no cause known The US and Israel yesterday hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on the fifth day of the war with Iran. Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces, while the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel, and across the region. Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the center of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted. With fighter jets roaring overhead, those still in Tehran looked anxiously to the skies. One man, who ran a clothing shop,
RSS