Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) criticised China on Wednesday for organising two summits for Taiwanese participants later this week, claiming these gatherings aim to “lecture” rather than promote authentic exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, as reported by Focus Taiwan.
The MAC stated that the upcoming summits are “conducted under the guise of cultural and media exchanges aimed at summoning Taiwanese media and cultural figures to Beijing for lecturing and instruction.” The council emphasised that these events do not embody the essence of true cross-strait cultural and educational exchanges and are “not supported by the Taiwanese government”.
The council remarked that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) utilisation of various forms of exchanges as tools for united front work does little to bridge differences across the Taiwan Strait and will not earn the acceptance of Taiwanese society, as highlighted by the Focus Taiwan report.
The two summits mentioned by the MAC are the second Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit and the sixth Cross-Strait Media Summit, which are set to commence in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Before the official start of these events, a Taiwanese delegation of around 30 individuals, including former Kuomintang Chairperson Hung Hsiu-chu, was greeted on Tuesday by Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing.
Wang stated during the reception that Chinese culture represents “the root and soul of the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait,” and called for collective efforts to “unite and strive for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”.
The Taiwan-China issue presents a complex and enduring geopolitical conflict centred on Taiwan’s sovereignty. Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China (ROC), operates an independent government, military, and economy, effectively functioning as a self-governing state.
Conversely, China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and insists on the “One China” principle, which declares that there is only one China, with Beijing as its capital. This stance has led to decades of tension, particularly since the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949), when the ROC government retreated to Taiwan after the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, assumed control of mainland China.
Beijing has consistently voiced its ambition of reunifying with Taiwan, employing diplomatic, economic, and military pressure to marginalise Taiwan on the global stage.
