Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) yesterday urged people who use Chinese social media platforms to be cautious of being influenced by Beijing’s “united front” propaganda and undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Chiu made the remarks in response to queries about Chinese academic Zhang Weiwei (張維為) saying that as young Taiwanese are fond of interacting on Chinese app Xiaohongshu (小紅書, known as RedNote in English), “after unification with China, it would be easier to govern Taiwan than Hong Kong.”
Zhang is professor of international relations at Shanghai’s Fudan University and director of its China Institute.
Photo: AFP
When giving a speech at China’s Wuhan University, a student asked him about Taiwan.
“The time is ripe to solve the ‘Taiwan question’ as China’s economy is steamrolling Taiwan, which is now more like a Chinese province,” Zhang said. “Taiwan’s economy depends heavily on exports to China, especially semiconductors and electronic goods, while China could actually buy less from Taiwan.
“We know that many young Taiwanese like to use Xiaohongshu and other Chinese social media, so they are coming under China’s influence,” he said. “So when China unifies [with] Taiwan, it will be easier to govern than Hong Kong.”
Chiu said that Xiaohongshu and Douyin (抖音) — the Chinese version of TikTok — are tools the Chinese government uses for its “united front” propaganda.
“We ask people to be very careful when using these Chinese apps, since there are dangers of breaches of personal data and the implanting of pro-China viewpoints and messages,” he said. “Due to these dangers, schools must recognize this issue and provide media literacy lessons for students who use these Chinese apps to prevent them becoming targets of China’s ‘united front’ tactics.”
In other cross-strait news, the Straits Forum, an annual conference between China and Taiwan that started in 2009, is to be hosted by China’s Fujian Province next month.
The MAC has prohibited central government officials from participating and has recommended that local government officials “not attend” — a change of tone from past statements of “not wanting to see” Taiwanese officials attending.
When asked about it yesterday during a radio interview, Chiu said: “It was suggested that it would be better to issue a direct ban, to avoid confusion, as local governments told us that the wording ‘not wanting to see’ is too ambiguous, as China continues to invite our officials to attend the forum.”
Chiu said Taiwan and China still maintain some level of interaction, even though official dialogue has stalled.
Interactions with China are carried out in line with the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), he said.
Chiu made the comments after Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Frank Wu (吳豊山) on Wednesday last week said that while “cross-strait dialogue is suspended, channels for passing messages remain open.”
Chiu said that Wu was simply stating the facts and expressing hope that both sides of the Taiwan Strait could resume dialogue, which was cut off in 2016.
When asked about an incident in which a group of Chinese visitors posed for a selfie with a People’s Republic of China national flag during a visit to Taiwan, Chiu said they were a group of Chinese students from Macau.
A National Immigration Agency official on Sunday said on condition of anonymity that the students were visiting Taiwan for a concert, but they photographed themselves holding the Chinese national flag in Taiwan and posted the photos online in a deliberate provocative move.
The agency has sent warnings, the official said, adding that further applications to visit Taiwan would be strictly reviewed.
Additional reporting by CNA
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