Steps taken by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) to counter Beijing’s “united front” efforts would not evoke the specter of McCarthyism in Taiwan, as they are in the best interests of Taiwan and would not hurt its people, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said.
Chiu made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency as he outlined some of the approaches the MAC has adopted to address the challenges of dealing with Beijing.
On June 21, around one month after President William Lai (賴清德) took office, Chinese authorities announced a set of legal guidelines targeting advocates of Taiwanese independence, with the most severe punishment being the death penalty.
Photo: CNA
The guidelines’ scope was “extremely broad and overly expansive,” Chiu said, adding that, under the provisions, anyone who does not support the Chinese Communist Party’s unification policies “could almost certainly face legal consequences.”
In response, the MAC raised the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to the second-highest “orange” level, and lodged a protest with Chinese authorities over the serious personal safety risks the rules posed to Taiwanese in China.
The protest included rejecting applications from high-ranking officials of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) to visit Taiwan. Those denied entry included Jin Mei (金梅), director of the Shanghai Municipal TAO, earlier this month for the Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum in Taipei.
The same approach would continue, Chiu said, adding that entry would only be granted if the officials would agree to meet with the MAC in a way where “we could lodge a protest regarding this matter [the issuance of the guidelines].”
Social infiltration that employs “united front” strategies aimed at dividing and influencing Taiwanese society has been part of Beijing’s actions since May 20 for “a multifaceted form of pressure” on Taiwan, he said.
While Chiu defined “united front” strategies as efforts to “exploit and create internal conflicts among adversaries,” some have said that Taiwan’s crackdown on such activities fosters an environment that could in time evoke the specter of McCarthyism.
McCarthyism, named after late US senator Joseph McCarthy, cultivated paranoid fear and suspicion of communist influence in the late 1940s and early 1950s, often leading to unjust accusations, social division and the suppression of differing opinions.
The term “united front” is often used by the MAC to denounce China’s attempts to influence Taiwan, including when it criticized a small number of Taiwanese entertainers for echoing China’s military threats against Taiwan in October.
As to whether a phenomenon similar to McCarthyism could occur in Taiwan, Chiu rejected such a possibility. Imposing a direct ban on suspected “united front” efforts would be “the quickest and simplest solution,” he said.
The MAC was against such a step because “it would undermine the principles of freedom and democracy, and disrupt the normal functioning of a constitutional democracy,” he said.
The MAC’s approach is to focus on educating the public to identify “united front” strategies and push for legislation, such as the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), to defend democracy, he said
Among other measures the MAC could resort to in countering Chinese threats is fostering international exchanges, Chiu said.
To build ties with like-minded democratic nations and help them manage their relations with China, Chiu said the MAC provides Taiwan’s overseas offices with detailed weekly reports on the cross-strait situation, offering in-depth analyses of bilateral relations.
Those reports are subsequently shared by Taiwan’s diplomatic missions with “local friends,” helping deepen collaboration on navigating relations with China, he said.
If there was an area in which there was hope for progress, it was tourism, but there was little indication from Chiu that the situation would improve in the near future.
In 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese visitors accounted for about one-quarter of all foreign visitors to Taiwan, but that source of tourism income has all but dried up, with independent or group travel largely frozen by the Chinese authorities for more than four years.
“The crux of the issue lies in the unwillingness [of Chinese authorities] to lift the travel ban,” Chiu said.
While some Chinese officials have expressed a willingness to ease restrictions, they have attached numerous conditions, said Chiu, who described some of the conditions as “involving political manipulation.”
If China’s lifting of the ban touches on political issues, or if tourism is used as a form of economic leverage against Taiwan, it would raise significant concerns for the MAC, he said.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
RSS