Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) yesterday said China was using “united front” tactics in its second Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit, which started on Wednesday, and its sixth Cross-Strait Media Summit, which began yesterday.
“Our view regarding such activities remain the same,” he told a news conference in Taipei. “They are obviously part of ‘united front’ tactics.”
“In 2019, the management of Taiwanese news media participated in a similar event, where they were lectured during a closed-door meeting by then-Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference chairman Wang Yang (汪洋) about the importance of amplifying pro-unification agenda,” Liang said, adding that the recorded conversations sparked controversy.
Photo: CNA
“We do not want the same thing to occur this time. People have high expectations for news media, which should be a watchdog in society,” he said.
According to Chinese media reports, Want Want Holdings deputy chairman Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) and Eastern Multimedia Group chairman Gary Wang (王令麟) took part in the the media summit at the Beijing Hotel.
Want Want and Eastern Broadcasting own the Chinese-language newspaper China Times and satellite television network Eastern Broadcasting.
Nearly 150 people attended the media summit, Chinese media said.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Deputy Director Wu Xi (吳璽) during the summit said that Chinese and Taiwanese media should use the event as a platform to deepen exchanges.
Media cooperation is crucial to establishing a peaceful foundation for cross-strait relations, Wu said.
They should unite the hearts and minds of people across the Taiwan Strait, and work together to overcome the challenges of technological innovation and structural changes to mass media, she added.
In other news, on Tuesday, a Taiwanese delegation of about 30 people, including former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), was received by top Chinese Communist Party officials.
“We must insist on the ‘one China’ principle and the ‘1992 consensus,’ oppose Taiwanese separatism and promote the great mission of national unity with unwavering determination,” Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧) said during the meeting.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted to making up, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
National Cheng Kung University political science professor Hung Ching-fu (洪敬富) said that the event underscored Chinese media’s role as the government’s mouthpiece, not its watchdog.
Exchange is being used as a pretext for surrender to China, he said, adding that the public should be wary of the outlets that volunteer to become the “local facilitators” of Beijing-directed meddling.
Additional reporting by CNA
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