Analysis: Cheap Summer Camps Part of China’s Propaganda Campaign

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By Kris Ma/Hank Hsu/Reece Ayers

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China is offering cheap summer camps to Taiwanese students, but experts warn these trips are actually a tool for pro-unification propaganda. TaiwanPlus speaks to David Bandurski from the China Media Project about Beijing's ongoing attempts to influence Taiwanese civilians.

Cross-Strait Student Exchanges

 

REPORTER:  

Experts warn that low-cost summer camps in China, including programs targeting Taiwanese students, are being used to spread pro-unification propaganda.

 

Organizations like China Youth International are offering all-inclusive seven-day travel packages for as little as $125 US dollars, excluding flight and visa costs. Data from Taiwan’s Control Yuan show student exchange trips to China surged after the pandemic, with Beijing increasingly targeting elementary and junior high schoolers. Participation among this age group jumped from a few dozen in 2022 to over 2,000 last year. The number of accompanying teachers nearly doubled to almost 1,300. The watchdog warns that many trips bypass school registration, leaving younger students vulnerable to political coercion.

 

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Cross-Strait Student Exchanges: Younger Students Targeted

 

REPORTER:  

Low-cost summer camps in China are attracting more and younger Taiwanese students across the Taiwan Strait, a government watchdog reports.

 

A report from Taiwan's Control Yuan shows student exchange trips to China surged post-pandemic, with Beijing increasingly targeting elementary and junior high schoolers. Participation among those students jumped from a few dozen in 2022 to over two thousand last year. The number of accompanying teachers nearly doubled to almost thirteen hundred. The watchdog warns that many trips bypass school registration, leaving young students vulnerable to political coercion.

Taiwan-China Relations