Beijing’s Recent Cross-Strait Integration Policy Is ‘Psychological Warfare’ on Taiwan: Experts

Tourists look on as a Chinese military helicopter flies past Pingtan island, one of mainland China's closest points to Taiwan, in Fujian Province, on Aug. 4, 2022. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

In a recently released document, China’s communist regime touted supposed economic gains for Taiwanese people who would move across the Taiwan Strait to China—in an attempt to attract Taiwanese residents to live and do business in China’s southeastern coastal province of Fujian.

It has been a practice of the communist regime to attempt to subjugate Taiwan by simultaneously emphasizing both its military presence in the area and purported economic benefits a closer relationship would bring to the island.

According to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) mouthpiece Xinhua News Agency, the regime recently published a document with 21 measures to encourage Taiwan residents to move to the cities of Xiamen and Fuzhou in Fujian Province.

The communist regime says it plans to turn Fujian Province into a “demonstration zone for the integrated development across the Taiwan Strait” and to “ensure they [Taiwanese residents and entrepreneurs] enjoy equal treatment with their mainland counterparts,” Xinhua reported. The document was released jointly by the CCP’s top decision-making bodies: the Central Committee and its cabinet-like State Council.

In addition to its existing national security law, China introduced a new counter-espionage law this year. Effective from July 1, 2023, the law greatly expanded the regime’s definition of espionage, which triggered concerns about the safety of foreigners in China. Among others, the following cases of Taiwanese residents detained by the communist regime under a range of allegations have been reported by The Epoch Times in recent years:

• Chung Ting-pang, detained by the regime in 2012 for “inciting mainland residents to destroy broadcasting facilities;”
• Lee Ming-che, detained by the regime in 2017 for spreading “subversive” messages;
• Yang Zhi-yuan, detained by the regime in 2022 for “endangering national security;” and
• Li Yanhe, detained by the regime in April 2023 “on suspicion of engaging in activities endangering national security.”

The recent integration document states that China’s communist regime plans to supply gas and electricity to Taiwan’s Kinmen and Matsu islands, and to construct bridges linking the two groups of offshore islands with Xiamen City and Fuzhou City on the Chinese mainland.

The Kinmen Islands lie about 17 miles away from Fujian’s southern Xiamen City, while the Matsu archipelago lies some 64 miles away from Fujian’s capital, Fuzhou City, in the north of the province. The two Taiwanese archipelagos have been at the frontline of military confrontation with the Chinese regime.

China experts believe that the new document is part of the CCP’s united front work (UFW), and that the CCP aims to influence Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election by using psychological warfare on the Taiwanese people.

“This is a psychological war, indoctrinating Taiwanese that [China and Taiwan are] of one family,” said former Taiwan Air Force Deputy Commander Chang Yan-ting in an interview with the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on Wednesday.

He added that the CCP was promoting this cross-strait integration in Fujian to relax Taiwan’s defensive mentality against the CCP, with its ultimate goal being to take over Taiwan without having to fire a shot.

CCP’s Claim Over Taiwan Lacks Legitimacy: Expert

“The CCP is the culprit that has divided China into ‘two Chinas,’” said Su Tzu-yun, director of the Institute for National Defense Security Research in Taiwan, in an interview with the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on Sept. 12.

Beijing claims that the self-ruled island of Taiwan is part of its national territory, while the Taiwan government states that the Chinese communist regime has “never exercised sovereignty over Taiwan.”

Mr. Su added that more and more people in Taiwan, and especially young people, have come to recognize the CCP’s authoritarian nature, which is unacceptable to most people on the democratic island. In addition, China has also lost even more appeal among young Taiwanese due to its high unemployment rate.

In a poll released by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation on September 1, 48.9 percent of respondents support the island’s independence, 11.8 percent favor cross-strait reunification, 26.9 percent want to maintain the status quo, and the remaining 12.3 percent have no opinion, didn’t know, or refused to answer.

The Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd transits the Taiwan Strait during a routine mission. U.S. Navy/AFP

The new poll shows that although the CCP has been infiltrating Taiwan relentlessly in recent decades, the CCP’s UFW efforts are failing, and that the number of people willing to accept the CCP’s rhetoric is rapidly diminishing, according to Mr. Su.

CCP’s Military Coercion and UFW Both Target Taiwan’s 2024 General Election: Experts

Taiwan’s next presidential election will take place on Jan. 13, 2024. China experts believe that the CCP’s intensified UFW and military efforts are both aimed at influencing the election.

Feng Chongyi, associate professor of China studies at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, believes that the CCP intends to help the Kuomintang’s candidate win the election.

“How to increase the votes of Kuomintang[’s candidate] and reduce the votes of the Democratic Progressive Party—all [of the CCP’s] current Taiwan policies support this theme,” said Mr. Feng in an interview with the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on Sept. 13.

The CCP will do whatever it thinks fit to serve its goal, said Mr. Feng. He said that the Taiwanese people should stay alert and not be deceived by the communist regime.

Mr. Su also noted that the best way for Taiwanese people to resist the influence of the CCP’s UFW efforts is to stay alert to its tactics that target Taiwan.

“We must be concerned and remain vigilant, and we shouldn’t follow the CCP’s rhetoric,” said Mr. Su.

The candidates for Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election are: the incumbent Vice President Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party; New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang (the Nationalist Party of China); Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party; and the founder and CEO of the consumer electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn, Terry Gou.

Foxconn is one of the leading technology manufacturers in the world, and operates multiple factories across China. Mr. Gou announced his bid for the presidency on Aug. 28, and said he “blames the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) hostility to Beijing” for “rising tensions with China,” according to Reuters.

Taiwan Must Strengthen Its Military: Former Commanding General of Taiwan’s Air Force

Chang Yan-ting, a retired deputy commanding general in Taiwan’s Air Force, said that the CCP has been pursuing a two-pronged approach.

Newly commissioned and upgraded F-16V fighter jets at an air force base in Chiayi in southwestern Taiwan on Nov. 18, 2021. Johnson Lai/AP Photo

According to Mr. Chang, the Chinese regime has used its army, on the one hand, to threaten Taiwan with “military reunification.”

Taiwan’s National Defense Ministry has been reporting regularly on the CCP’s military aircraft and vessels intruding into its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and Taiwan’s territorial waters. The Ministry reported a total of 212 PLA (China’s People’s Liberation Army) aircraft and 117 PLAN (PLA Navy) vessels in the waters and airspace around Taiwan between Sept. 1 and Sept. 17, 2023.

On the other hand, however, Wang Huning, the CCP’s official in charge of Taiwan affairs, is simultaneously promoting a so-called peaceful reunification route.

Radio Free Asia reported in January that “Wang Huning’s task is to lay the foundation for cross-strait reunification,” and “to formulate alternatives to ‘one country, two systems.’”

In a December, 2021 article in The Washington Post, Hugh Hewitt, an American columnist and radio host, said he regards Wang Huning as “the most dangerous man in the world.”

“We must clearly understand the nature of the Communist Party,” Mr. Chang said in his interview with The Epoch Times. “The CCP’s methods and means will be adjusted, but its goals [of taking over Taiwan] will not change.”

Mr. Chang called for greater efforts to strengthen Taiwan’s military force, including the creation of an air force reserve, in order to resist possible military invasion by the PLA.

Mr. Su Tzu-yun, director of the Institute for National Defense Security Research in Taiwan, also emphasized that Taiwanese people should be on their guard militarily and psychologically against the CCP’s military coercion and UFW efforts—regardless of which tactics the CCP uses.

Incumbent Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen has rejected the CCP’s claims of sovereignty over Taiwan.

“I am reiterating here, Taiwan absolutely does not accept ‘one country, two systems.’ The vast majority of Taiwan citizens also absolutely oppose ‘one country, two systems.’ That is the ‘Taiwan consensus,’” President Tsai Ing-wen stated in response to claims to the contrary made by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2019.

Ms. Tsai noted that she is open to holding talks with China, but said she wouldn’t accept the Chinese regime deciding the fate of the Taiwanese people.

Taiwan has its own constitution, democratically elected government, currency, and military—making it a de-facto independent country.

“No person or organization has the right to represent the Taiwanese people in carrying out political negotiations,” Ms. Tsai said.

Annie Wu, Ning Haizhong, and Luo Ya contributed to this report.