Beijing’s lifting of restrictions banning Taiwanese tour groups to China must be monitored, as it is part of a propaganda campaign to influence Taiwan ahead of next year’s presidential and legislative elections, national security officials said.
The government has intelligence suggesting that the Chinese Communist Party’s Fujian branch is in the next few days to invite Taiwanese journalists from 30 media companies to travel to China for a “cross-strait joint reporting activity,” a national security official said on Friday on condition of anonymity.
It is entirely for propaganda, but with the facade of “news coverage” on cultural and tourism activities to promote the idea that Taiwan and China “are the same family on both sides of Taiwan Strait,” they said.
Photo: Screen grab from the Internet
It is likely part of a bid to saturate the media with information casting China in a favorable light before the opening of the Straits Forum next month, while putting pressure on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, they said.
Beijing has already begun targeting Taiwanese media with the revival of tourism following the COVID-19 pandemic, they said.
This includes a similar event hosted in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin in March, and an event jointly held by Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office and the Henan and Hebei provincial governments which concluded yesterday, they said.
The latter event was supposedly attended by more than 40 people representing media companies from China and Taiwan, they added.
Beijing has frequently paid for trips, sponsored events, and handed free content and advertising opportunities to media platforms, influencers and public relations firms in Taiwan as part of its campaign to cultivate “local facilitators,” they said.
These activities are disguised as conferences and news events to circumvent Taiwanese laws and regulations, the official said.
China has been trying to attract people from Taiwanese media firms, including small-scale news sites, local radio stations and public relations agencies to influence them to promote Beijing’s policies, they said.
“It is the way China infiltrates Taiwanese society, to conduct ‘united front’ work and Chinese propaganda warfare,” they added.
Earlier this month, China used its state-run media and Paraguayan media companies under its influence to spread false reports that Paraguay’s opposition party would win the country’s presidential election and sever ties with Taiwan, they said, citing National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) legislative report.
Beijing is conducting a similar information campaign for Guatemala’s general election, they said, citing Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮).
Taiwan should protect itself from election interference that China has used against the nation’s diplomatic allies, the official said.
As campaigns for next year’s presidential and legislative elections have begun, “our citizens must be aware that China has not given up on its ambition to annex Taiwan,” the official said.
“We must be wary of China’s financial incentives, special privileges and all-expenses-paid junket trips, as these are united front tactics to undermine the government and society,” they added.
Taiwanese must abide by government regulations and restrictions on cross-strait exchanges and tour programs, and must not become the willing tools of China’s propaganda campaign, they said.
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