Civilian group from mainland China to take more prominent role in cross-strait affairs

A low-key civilian group headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s former deputy may take a more prominent role in driving Beijing’s new strategy to engage the Taiwanese public, as mainland China continues to shake up senior members of its Taiwan policy team.

The All China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots (ACFTC), which focuses on Taiwanese living on the mainland and is chaired by Wang Yifu, might lead a civilian body on behalf of Beijing to reach out to Taiwanese youth and small businesses, a source close to the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office said. Beijing is looking for a fresh channel to engage the island’s public.

The new approach underscores Beijing’s injection of fresh blood to spearhead a new strategy after its previous focus on mainstream Taiwan political parties and big business saw little success in winning over Taiwanese.

The source said that since Taiwan’s independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen was sworn in last May, the approach of the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) and its affiliates appeared to have misjudged the situation or misunderstood Beijing’s thinking on Taiwanese affairs, to the dismay of top Communist Party leaders.

The miscalculations include initially sending signals of approval of Tsai’s inauguration speech and a clumsy response to Taipei’s choice of representative for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit last year.