Subsidized China trip for Taiwan teachers carries 'united front' risk: MAC

Taipei, July 14 (CNA) Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Tuesday warned that a heavily subsidized eight-day trip to Xinjiang, an autonomous region in China, aimed at young Taiwanese teachers could expose participants to Beijing's "united front" influence operations.

By targeting teachers through the upcoming summer trip, Chinese authorities may be seeking to establish "nodes" on Taiwanese campuses, MAC Deputy head Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) said ahead of a seminar in Taipei.

"If some teachers on Taiwanese campuses become nodes for united front work, it will become much easier for them (referring to Chinese authorities) to use those nodes to draw more young people into similar programs in the future," Shen said.

The trip criticized by Shen, titled the "Cross-Strait Young Teachers' Northern Xinjiang Tour," first drew public attention early Tuesday after the Chinese-language Liberty Times reported on the program.

Liberty Times cited an unnamed government official as saying that it was presented as a cross-strait exchange but was in fact intended to "brainwash" participants.

Scheduled for Aug. 14-21, the trip will take up to 25 Taiwanese teachers under the age of 45, according to information published by its organizer, Taipei-based Chinese Youth International.

The organizer, which lists one of its missions as promoting exchanges among "Chinese youths across the Taiwan Strait," is primarily seeking teachers interested in China's ethnic minority cultures, natural environment, education and regional development to join the trip.

Participants are required to pay for their own flights and a registration fee of NT$4,000 (US$124.3), while food and accommodation during the trip will be covered by the organizer.

The itinerary includes visits to a university, a vocational school, a facility operated by Taiwan's Want Want Group and several museums, as well as cultural activities and tours of attractions across Xinjiang.

As of Tuesday, registration had closed, and the registration page did not disclose the source of funding for the trip.

Responding to reporters' questions about the trip, Shen speculated that the organizers may have limited participants to those under 45 because they view younger people as "more impressionable," with less firmly established views on national identity and "the distinction between friend and foe."

"This makes it easier to reshape their views on national identity through united front work," he said.

Describing the teacher-focused trip as a "new approach" compared with previous similar programs aimed more broadly at young people, Shen said MAC will work with the Ministry of Education to alert the public and continue strengthening awareness of the risks involved.

"There is no such thing as a free lunch," Shen said, warning that programs offering subsidized local hospitality may present only a favorable image of China while obscuring the risks of Beijing's "united front" activities.

The government will further remind schools to exercise caution regarding such programs, he added.

However, Shen did not say whether authorities would take any action to prevent the trip from going ahead or investigate its organizer.

While Shen characterized the program as posing "united front" risks, there is currently no public evidence directly linking the tour to the Chinese authorities.

However, some of the organizer's previous tours did involve exchanges with Chinese institutions, while its officials have participated in activities associated with the Straits Forum, which the MAC describes as Beijing's platform for united front work against Taiwan.