Chinese Regime Pushes Cultural Exchange with Taiwan

The Chinese regime’s Minster of Culture Cai Wu visited Taiwan this month for an 8-day visit, hot on the heels of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement. He proposed a similar agreement, geared at fostering cultural exchange between the Chinese regime and Taiwan. <br /><br />Cai’s Taiwan counterpart Emile Sheng reacted coolly to the idea. The Council for Cultural Affairs Minister said there was no timetable for such an agreement, and that it’s only a long-term aim. <br /><br />Cai is the highest level communist official to have visited Taiwan in 12 years. Political commentator Yang Hsien-hong says his trip has more than cultural ramifications. <br /><br />[Yang Hsien-hong, Political Commentator]: (male, Chinese) <br />“The Chinese Communist Party is using culture to cover its political intent. Such exchanges are not cultural at all, it’s political exchange.” <br /><br />Chinese author Yuan Hongbing, who wrote the book “Taiwan Disaster” last year, says it’s the Chinese regime’s goal to eventually take over Taiwan. The two have been ruled separately since a civil war in 1949, but the Chinese regime still considers Taiwan its territory and aims at unification. <br /><br />[Yuan Hongbing, Author]: (male, Chinese) <br />“The CCP’s Cultural Department is in fact a political arm of the regime. It controls people’s thoughts through culture, and is directed entirely by the CCP’s politics. This visit by the Minister of Culture is just the execution of their tactic of unifying the culture. To complete the unification of Taiwan’s culture [with the CCP] by 2012, this was the political aim of the Minister’s visit.” <br /><br />In August, Cai Wu told the Chinese regime’s Central Party School—the main institute for training communist party members—that China lacks (quote) “cultural soft power.” This includes influencing people's values and creating interest for a political position. <br /><br />Rhetoric like this is causing some people in Taiwan to question the validity of cross-strait cultural exchange. <br /><br />[...]