Beijing tries to woo Taiwan hearts and minds with ‘paid’ news
- At least five Taiwanese media groups have been paid by mainland authorities for positive coverage
Mainland authorities have paid at least five Taiwanese media groups for coverage in various publications and on television, in an effort to win hearts and minds on the self-ruled island as part of Beijing’s reunification agenda.
While the articles in one Taipei-based newspaper were presented as straight news, they were actually paid for by the Chinese government, according to a person with direct knowledge of the arrangement, and internal documents from the publication.
The Taiwan Affairs Office, which oversees Beijing’s policies towards Taiwan, paid 30,000 yuan (US$4,250) for two feature stories about the mainland’s efforts to attract Taiwan businesspeople.“It felt like I was running propaganda and working for the Chinese government,” the person said.
The articles were even edited by the Taiwan Affairs Office before they were sent to the newspaper’s newsroom in Taipei for publication, the person said, adding that the people interviewed in the reports had been picked by an official from the Communist Party’s Publicity Department.
“Readers were unable to tell the stories were paid for,” the person said. “All they could see was positive coverage of the mainland.”
Reuters is withholding the names of the media groups at the request of the former and current employees who provided documents – including contracts signed by the Taiwan Affairs Office – and who also did not wish to be named.