Taipei [Taiwan]: China has intensified its “united front” efforts by targeting university campuses in Taiwan, offering students cultural exchange programs in China, sources revealed. The Ministry of Education has been urged to scrutinize such initiatives more closely, according to a report by Taipei Times.
China’s strategy focuses on attracting young Taiwanese to visit the mainland by incorporating popular terms like “influencer,” “movie,” and “traveling” to appeal to younger audiences, an anonymous official familiar with these efforts said.
For example, over 40 young Taiwanese were recently invited to Xinjiang Normal University to learn about Xinjiang milk tea, choreography, and dancing. The event was later publicized by the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily in a report published last month.
In another initiative, the Zhejiang Provincial Taiwan Affairs Office launched the “Taizhou Influencer Dream Camp” last month. The program offered young Taiwanese participants training to become self-media professionals for a fee of 2,000 yuan (USD 274.53), with food, accommodation, and transportation covered by the provincial government. Similarly, in Hubei Province, a short film exchange meet-up was organized alongside the Golden Flying Swallow cross-strait short film and video competition last month.
“These ‘united front’ activities present an idealized version of China, aimed at impressing and winning over young Taiwanese,” the official said.
Chinese organizations, including those linked to the Communist Party, reportedly collaborate with Taiwanese universities or student affairs offices to promote these programs. The Ministry of Education has taken steps to counter this, canceling funding to universities whose student affairs offices cooperate with Chinese political groups engaged in “united front” activities.
The official cautioned that while students visiting Xinjiang may experience an idealized version of China, they should remain aware of the ongoing human rights abuses in the region. “Tens of thousands of Uyghurs in Xinjiang have been deprived of their freedoms and even their lives under the Chinese government,” the official said.