Chinese officials who pushed back their visits to Taiwan during the Sunflower movement protests during March and April have resumed their visits, political watchers said.
The Chinese heads of provincial or municipal governments have now continued their pursuit of hastening unification by using economic reasons to win the hearts and minds of Taiwanese in cities ruled by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The Sunflower movement was a student-led occupation of the Legislative Yuan’s main chamber that began on March 18 in protest against the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade agreement. It lasted 23 days, ending on April 10.
According to sources, more than seven groups of Chinese officials have visited Taiwan in the past month, including those led by Guizhou Province Regional Committee Secretary Zhao Kezhi (趙克志), Anhui Province Regional Committee Secretary Zhang Baoshun (張寶順), Shanghai City Deputy Mayor Weng Tiehui (翁鐵慧), Hubei Province Deputy Governor Wang Xiaodong (王曉東), Jiangsu Province Deputy Regional Committee Secretary and Governor Lee Xueyong (李學勇), Jilin Province Deputy Governor Chen Weigen (陳偉根), and former Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Straits chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
This month, five to seven Chinese officials are scheduled to visit, sources said, adding that Shanghai is also expected to send a large group on Monday next week to participate in the Shanghai Forum.
Chinese officials tend to make the nation’s central and southern regions their top priorities and often hold economic-related activities in the region in the hope of enticing more Taiwanese businesspeople to invest in China, sources said, adding that they also purchase local agricultural products from the area.
Sources said they were worried that China would exploit opportunities to use Taiwanese media and buy advertisements to attract more Taiwanese businessmen to China.
The government should make an active inquiry into the media and mete out appropriate punishment for any adverts that violate the law, the sources added.
Meanwhile, visiting provincial heads often see themselves as the “parents” of Chinese spouses who have married Taiwanese, and they “visit their families” to see how they are adapting, while others make a special visit to university-affiliated hospitals in order to learn from them and foster exchanges, sources said.
According to the sources, Weng visited the Taipei Veterans General Hospital during his visit, while Lee visited the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Greater Kaohsiung.
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