China is hosting two cross-strait exchange summits over the next two days, with a group of Taiwanese citizens attending. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which manages relations with China, released a statement saying that it disapproves of the summits and that Beijing often uses these kinds of exchanges to advance so-called "united front" tactics.
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00:00Taiwanese officials are raising the alarm over cross-strait meetings being held over
00:05the next two days in China.
00:07The summits provide a venue for informal dialogue between China and Taiwan, but the Mainland
00:12Affairs Council here in Taipei says exchanges like these can be used to advance Chinese
00:17Communist Party propaganda.
00:20Cadence Kuranta joins us live from our newsroom in Taipei with more.
00:25Cadence, what do we know about these summits?
00:31So there are two cross-strait exchange summits happening over the next two days in China.
00:36One is focused on the media and one is focused on culture.
00:40And there will be Chinese officials that will be attending as well as a group of Taiwanese
00:45citizens, including former government officials from the Kuomintang or the KMT, which is Taiwan's
00:51opposition party and generally has closer ties with China.
00:55There also will be businessmen, as well as the head of a media organization in Taiwan,
01:00as well as a well-known lyricist.
01:02And this group met with Chinese officials first yesterday, ahead of the official start
01:08to the summit.
01:09And these summits aren't uncommon.
01:14So what are officials here in Taiwan worried about?
01:20So yeah, so this is not the first time that these summits have happened.
01:25And although Chinese and Taiwanese governments cut off all formal communication in 2016, these
01:31kinds of cultural exchanges are not uncommon.
01:35When the KMT was in power, these kinds of exchanges were encouraged, actually.
01:40But the Democratic Progressive Party currently holds Taiwan's presidency.
01:43And they view China as a threat.
01:46And they are very wary of Chinese influence.
01:50That's because China has long asserted that Taiwan is part of their territory.
01:54And they say that they will take Taiwan by force if necessary.
02:01So the DPP has been stepping up its efforts to combat what it says is Chinese infiltration
02:06and influence within Taiwan.
02:09With these summits specifically, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which manages relations between
02:15Taiwan and China, has said that they really disapprove of these summits.
02:19They say that these kinds of exchanges are only to advance China's united front tactics.
02:27And these tactics are well documented.
02:29They're part of a broader political strategy to influence public opinion within Taiwan and
02:35to advance China's goal of taking Taiwan.
02:38So these summits are generally not uncommon.
02:42But they're definitely something the government is keeping an eye on, especially amid heightened
02:46tensions between both sides of the street.
02:50Well, thanks, Cadence.
02:51That was Cadence Kuranto reporting from our newsroom in Taipei.
02:54That was the only way.
03:07Okay.
03:09That was a good question.