Beijing pushes Taiwan exchanges at Straits Forum despite tightened restrictions

Beijing is seeking to expand people-to-people exchanges with Taiwan as it hosts hundreds from the island for an annual event, despite the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) banning Taiwanese officials from taking part. The Straits Forum, now in its 18th edition since 2009, is Beijing’s key platform for cross-strait people-to-people engagement, promoting exchanges in fields from culture to economics as part of its broader push for cross-strait integration. The main forum takes place on Saturday, when Wang Huning – Beijing’s top official on Taiwan affairs and the Communist Party’s fourth-ranking official – is expected to speak. Held in Xiamen in southeastern Fujian province, the event this year comes amid tightened restrictions by Taiwan’s ruling DPP, which leans towards independence. For the first time, the DPP has explicitly banned Taiwan’s municipal and county government officials from taking part, upgrading previous advisories into an outright prohibition and expanding on an existing ban on more senior officials from the self-ruled island. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons. This year’s forum comes at a sensitive time ahead of Taiwan’s local elections in November. Chang Jung-kung, vice-chairman of Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), will attend. He was in KMT chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s delegation for her visit to mainland China in April, when she met Communist Party chief Xi Jinping. Side events of the forum, on various subjects such as youth exchanges, finance, fisheries and governance, are being held. A total of 58 events will take place, according to Chen Zhiyong, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Fujian province on Friday. The number of Taiwanese attending this year remains unclear. Last year, about 7,000 participants from Taiwan joined the event. On Wednesday, the Taiwan Affairs Office said nearly 1,000 Taiwanese had already taken part in four events held across Fujian. The Straits Youth Forum kicked off on Friday with about 500 participants from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, underscoring Beijing’s efforts to attract young Taiwanese to study, work and live on the mainland. During the opening ceremony, Zhang Yan, head of the Fujian provincial party committee’s publicity department, called on Taiwanese young people to “promote peaceful development” and “safeguard peace” across the strait. Zhang also highlighted Fujian’s efforts to provide “full life-cycle” support for young people from Taiwan who come to study, work and live in the province. He said entrepreneurship grants of up to 200,000 yuan (US$29,500) were available and that in total 55,000 young people from Taiwan had come to Fujian for work. The event is part of Beijing’s broader push to advance cross-strait integration, particularly since 2023, when Fujian was designated a demonstration zone for cross-strait integrated development. Over the past three years, 74 supporting policies aimed at deepening Fujian-Taiwan integration have been rolled out. Ye Hanqian, vice-president of the KMT Youth Workers’ Association, cited Cheng’s vision in saying that youth exchanges should “go beyond short-term visits to create substantive opportunities for learning, industry cooperation and entrepreneurship”. Another Fujian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said participation by Taiwanese youth had increased fourfold this year despite the DPP’s restrictions. “Obstruction from Taiwan does have an impact, but it cannot suppress the desire for cross-strait exchanges,” he added. The official said some invitees had decided against attending, citing political restrictions and concerns over Taiwan’s coming elections, when county magistrates, councillors, township mayors and village chiefs are elected across six municipalities and 16 counties. Yao Ching-ling, a KMT member and magistrate of Taitung county, said Taiwanese authorities had rejected her application to attend. In a social media post on Thursday, Yao criticised the decision, arguing the forum was a platform for information exchange and business cooperation. At the Straits Financial Forum on Friday, nine Fujian-Taiwan financial cooperation projects were signed, totalling 9.1 billion yuan in value. The projects span a variety of areas, including cross-strait industrial cooperation, technological innovation and modern agriculture. Officials said the deals would further channel financial support into Fujian-Taiwan industrial integration and help Taiwanese firms access mainland financial resources. Zhang Yansheng, a prominent mainland economist, called on Taiwanese companies to seize strategic opportunities in the mainland’s 15th five-year plan, which covers 2026 to 2030. “While the West is turning towards protectionism, China is promoting openness,” he said at the forum. Zhang urged Taiwanese firms to tap into mainland China’s expanding domestic demand, industrial upgrading and artificial intelligence sectors.

Beijing pushes Taiwan exchanges at Straits Forum despite tightened restrictions

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Annual event meant to spur cross-strait integration takes place amid expanded ban by island’s ruling party on who can attend

Annual event meant to spur cross-strait integration takes place amid expanded ban by island’s ruling party on who can attend