Beijing could be using religious groups to host cross-strait matchmaking events for young people as part of a scheme to infiltrate Taiwanese society, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) told lawmakers yesterday.
Citing the Taiwan Information Environment Research Center, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chun-yu (陳俊宇) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that 16,000 Taiwanese last year participated in matchmaking events held by religious groups in China.
A majority of the events were held in China’s Fujian Province, which is a hotbed of Beijing’s “united front” operations targeting Taiwan, he said, before asking Shen to elaborate on the government’s stance on such activities.
Photo: Reuters
Shen said the government is not opposed to normal exchanges between religious groups, but has discovered to its regret that Beijing has inserted itself into these interactions to facilitate political interference.
Chinese temples are seemingly under instructions to refer to Matsu (媽祖) as a Chinese goddess and that pro-Beijing talking points are inserted into package tours, he said.
The Chinese Communist Party is using religious festivals to lure young Taiwanese into mixing with Chinese nationals in matchmaking events, he added.
This is likely a ploy to facilitate the assimilation of Taiwan into China via cultural influence and social networking, Shen said.
Separately, Shen said the MAC and the National Security Bureau are closely monitoring a surge in fake reports on social media and news outlets following the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday.
Beijing appears to be utilizing pro-China academics and think tanks based in the US to spread narratives that favor China or cast doubt on the US’ trustworthiness as an ally, he said.
Using Americans to distribute Chinese-made propaganda is a strategy to bolster the apparent credibility of pro-Beijing talking points, he added.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS