Bejing’s promotion of cross-strait exchanges is nothing but propaganda and an attempt to poach Taiwanese talent, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) urged young Taiwanese to support unification.
“I am glad to learn that young people from Taiwan have witnessed the rapid developments and changes of the motherland, and felt the warm feelings between compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait who are all of the same family,” Xi told the Straits Youth Forum in Xiamen earlier yesterday.
The coorganizers of this year’s forum — the 20th iteration of the event — included the Chinese Communist Party’s All-China Youth Federation and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Department of Youth Affairs.
Photo: CNA
Young Taiwanese should join hands with their Chinese counterparts to “strive relentlessly for national rejuvenation,” Xi said.
In response, the MAC said that educational exchanges are part of Beijing’s campaign to gain political influence in Taiwan, but its promises are not made in good faith.
Citing Xi’s comment, the MAC said the Chinese leader pledged to “maintain the excellent conditions of academic exchanges across the Strait as before.”
Xi’s claim was undercut by the Chinese government in April 2020 unilaterally shutting down the path for Chinese students to study in Taiwan, it said.
“It is clear that China’s exchanges and proclamations of mutual benefits for young Taiwanese are nothing but propaganda to poach talent to fill capability gaps in its economy,” the MAC said. “Its claims of mutually beneficial exchanges are insincere.”
Information packets warning Taiwanese of the pitfalls of studying or working in China were published on the council’s Web page ahead of the forum, while domestic groups are urged not to become tools of Beijing, it said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) said China is taking advantage of young first-time jobseekers with empty promises of economic opportunities.
Many Taiwanese investors have lost money in the Chinese market due to predatory state-sanctioned business practices, she said, adding that a society devoid of democracy and human rights can offer no advantages.
“Young people should be aware of the true conditions behind the facade in China,” she said. “As for the fatherland, one country on each side has long since been the reality for Taiwan and China.”
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
Taiwan is hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) for the first time, welcoming more than 400 young linguists from 43 nations to National Taiwan University (NTU). Deputy Minister of Education Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said at the opening ceremony yesterday that language passes down knowledge and culture, and influences the way humankind thinks and understands the world. Taiwan is a multicultural and multilingual nation, with Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, 16 indigenous languages and Taiwan Sign Language all used, Chu said. In addition, Taiwan promotes multilingual education, emphasizes the cultural significance of languages and supports the international mother language movement, he said. Taiwan has long participated
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can