By Yimou Lee
TAIPEI (Reuters) -More than 10,000 Taiwanese people participated in religious activities in China in 2024 with support from the government in Beijing, a study showed, which Taipei views as part of a campaign by China to win hearts and minds on the island.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to the island, subjecting it to almost daily military drills while reaching out to those it believes are receptive to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwan’s government says the Republic of China is a sovereign state and Beijing has no right to speak for or represent it.
About 10,496 Taiwanese last year joined more than 110 religious trips to China, supported or organised by government units across China, according to the study by IORG, a Taiwan-based non-governmental organisation.
IORG said the report, which was published late on Wednesday, revealed for the first time the scale of the Chinese campaign. Reuters has previously reported that China uses religion as a tool to influence elections in Taiwan.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Thursday, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said Beijing has long used religion to conduct “United Front” work targeting the island, referring to a unit of the Chinese government tasked with bolstering Beijing’s reach abroad.
Taiwan’s government is closely monitoring the situation, the council said, adding that the IORG report held significant reference value.
Security officials in Taiwan are wary of what they see as a Beijing influence campaign using religions that are hugely important to Taiwanese life but tightly controlled by the officially atheist ruling Chinese Communist Party.
China officially guarantees freedom of religion, but only under the leadership of the party.
IORG’s research analysed more than 7,346 articles posted to a news portal run by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office. These articles offered details on events – including the scale, locations and agendas – and were examined by artificial intelligence-assisted tools before being verified by IORG researchers.
“The Chinese Communist Party continues to use religious exchanges as a cover for political propaganda,” the IORG report said, adding that the reviewed articles stressed narratives that the two sides share common roots and are destined to “re-unify”.
In a report last week, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau warned that, under the guise of extensive “exchange programmes,” Beijing was conducting operations to sway and infiltrate “all walks of life” in Taiwan.
“They use religious activities to win over the hearts and minds of the Taiwanese people, treating it as a political tool,” a Taiwanese official familiar with the island’s policy towards China told Reuters. The official requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
(Reporting By Yimou Lee; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus.)
Comments