The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it would work with schools to reinforce awareness about China and the risks of traveling there after a government watchdog warned about increasingly one-sided cross-strait educational exchanges.
According to a statement by the Control Yuan last Wednesday, China has expanded efforts to attract Taiwanese students through scientific research programs, talent competitions and other exchange activities in the past few years.
The number of Taiwanese students participating in such programs far exceeds the number of Chinese students taking part in educational exchanges in Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Control Yuan members Lin Wen-cheng (林文程) and Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) issued a report saying Beijing has long targeted young Taiwanese with its “united front” strategy, with those efforts extending from elementary-school students all the way to university students.
Following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in 2023, the number of Taiwanese students traveling to China for exchanges increased sharply, the report said.
The number of university students participating in exchanges with China rose from 2,196 in 2022 to 5,745 last year. Among high-school and vocational-school students, the number increased from 676 to 1,161 over the same period. Junior-high school participation rose from 0 to 1,021 students, while elementary-school participation increased from 38 to 1,045. The number of accompanying teachers also nearly doubled, from 661 to 1,281.
Photo: Taipei Times
By contrast, the number of Chinese students participating in MAC-organized activities in Taiwan declined each year, dwindling from 76 in 2022 to just 16 last year.
The report found that although the Ministry of Education (MOE) established an online registration platform in 2019 requiring schools to report educational exchange activities in China, underreporting remains widespread.
In some cases, teachers independently recruited students for trips to China without informing the school, leading parents to mistakenly believe the activities had been officially organized by the schools, the report said.
The Control Yuan’s Internal Administration and Indigenous Affairs Committee and Education and Culture Committee approved the report on July 21 and called on the MAC and the MOE to review and improve oversight of cross-strait educational exchanges.
The MAC said it would continue working with the MOE to improve the exchange registration platform and strengthen related oversight mechanisms.
It plans to assist schools at all levels by using social media, news conferences, student camps and other channels to educate students about the risks of traveling to China and issues that should consider when participating in cross-strait academic exchanges.
In response to Beijing’s efforts to extend “united front” work to younger Taiwanese, the MAC said it is cooperating with the MOE, university general education centers and academic organizations to improve education about China and students’ understanding of the Chinese Communist Party’s “united front” activities.
The council said it would investigate reports of civic organizations recruiting students to participate in activities in China.
If potential legal or regulatory violations are identified, the cases would be referred to the appropriate authorities or handled through interagency coordination, it said.
Separately, the Ministry of National Defense said in a written report that it is expanding ideological and psychological resilience training for military personnel in response to what it described as Beijing’s growing use of “gray zone” tactics, cognitive warfare, disinformation and infiltration efforts aimed at undermining morale and unity.
The report was delivered to the lawmakers ahead of a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee’s meeting tomorrow.
The report said Taiwan is training soldiers to be aware of national security threats through military education programs, including “Chukuang Day” (莒光日) — the day regularly reserved for education in the military each week — instruction, counterintelligence education, psychological resilience and stress-management training, mental health education and political education courses at military academies.
The ministry said it has restored the name “Anti-Communist Patriotic Education” for a graduation training program, focusing on strengthening support for democratic values and opposition to communism.
Five new battlefield stress-resilience training centers and five tactical challenge facilities being built at military bases, including the Republic of China Military Academy’s Huangpu campus and the Jinliujie Training Area, are expected to be completed by the end of next year to improve troops’ ability to cope with battlefield stress through training, it said.
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