The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment.
The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the CCP might have cherry-picked them, Shen said.
Photo: CNA
However, absent any changes to legislation, the council would ensure that their itineraries and applications after arrival in Taiwan are approved if they meet the current standards, the MAC said.
Forty Chinese students and teachers from seven universities, including Chinese Olympic gold medalists Ma Long (馬龍) and Yang Qian (楊倩), invited by the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, yesterday arrived in Taiwan.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) citing an official with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that all of the members of the group were members of the Communist Youth League of China, CCP reserve cadres, or, in the case of Ma Long, standing members of the CCP.
The mission of the delegation is to spread Chinese propaganda for the CCP government, the source said.
Asked for comment, Ma
Long said he hoped to travel around Taiwan and experience its gastronomic delights.
When asked if he had been in contact with Taiwanese table tennis player Lin Yun-ju (林昀儒) and whether a friendly match would be scheduled, Ma said he had not reached out and that the possibility of a match would depend on his itinerary.
Yang said she also wished to tour the country.
The Chinese delegation visiting during the nadir of cross-strait relations showed that regardless of how frigid the relationship could become, sports and youth interactions would always remain something in common across the Strait, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday.
The foundation has been working hard to promote youth interactions, as such activities would build the foundation of a future involving both sides and prevent cross-strait conflict, Hsiao said.
The foundation would arrange a baseball event, hoping Ma Long and Yang would participate and help spread Taiwan’s baseball culture to China, Hsiao added.
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