Mon, Aug 31, 2020 page3

• Beijing ramping up recruitment for ‘united front’

  LIMITED EFFECTIVENESS: Young Taiwanese are ‘naturally inclined’ toward independence, and China’s efforts have shown poor results, a professor said

  • By Chung Li-hua and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  Beijing has been ramping up its efforts to attract young Taiwanese to China, and has been recruiting Taiwanese already in the country to act as agents of its “united front” efforts, a source said on Saturday.

  Those recruited are required to study Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) political philosophy, as well as other Chinese Communist Party (CCP) materials, the source said.

  The Chinese government has been specifically targeting Taiwanese students at Beijing’s universities, entrepreneurs running small businesses in the city and those working in the information technology industry in the city’s Zhongguancun technology park, the source said.

  The recruits are to work for Beijing’s “Taiwan Youth Relay Station” (台灣青年驛站) initiative, which runs summer and winter start-up incubator camps, the source said.

  Beijing is looking to recruit Taiwanese aged 45 and under who have graduated from a Chinese university, understand Chinese political philosophy and are willing to help it achieve its “united front” aims.

  Core members of the initiative hold regular book-reading sessions to review CCP material, including texts on the history of the party, and those on Xi’s goal of “realizing China’s dream of the rejuvenation of the great Chinese race,” the source said.

  Those completing the readings are to act as representatives for the promotion of cross-strait youth exchanges, the source added.

  Hung Chin-fu (洪敬富), a political science professor at National Cheng Kung University, said that in the past few years there have been pro-China student groups cropping up on Taiwanese university campuses, who post messages on Facebook that show clear indications of Chinese influence.

  The groups appear to be focused on attracting other students to work or study in China, and some of the groups attempt to represent certain universities without the schools’ approval, he said.

  Some of groups have stopped operating after failing to attract members, he added.

  Taiwan’s atmosphere of freedom and democracy allows students to read communist and pro-China materials, but the groups represent a minority, and their activities have been limited to small student gatherings, Hung said.

  Chinese attempts to recruit Taiwanese into “united front” efforts are not new, but there have always been only a small number of Taiwanese youth interested in going to China for work or to start a business, he said.

  “Taiwanese youth are naturally inclined toward [Taiwanese] independence, which has been especially true since the outbreak of the [COVID-19] pandemic,” Hung said. “The effectiveness of China’s ‘united front’ campaign is limited.”

  However, China has shown no signs of abandoning such efforts, so Taiwanese must remain vigilant, he said.
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