TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China is weaponizing narratives about Taiwan as part of its cognitive warfare campaign, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) warned Tuesday.
Speaking at a Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research forum, Shen said Beijing had used two Trump-Xi summits to promote a framework of “constructive strategic stability” and sought to make Taiwan a foundation of stable US-China relations, Liberty Times reported.
Beijing has also pressed Washington to accept its narrative, but the US has not done so, he said.
Shen said China’s efforts could influence public perceptions of Taiwan’s cross-strait and foreign policies. Beijing’s multifaceted pressure campaign against Taiwan posed the greatest risk to stability in the Taiwan Strait and the wider region, he said.
Although US-China relations and Taiwan-US relations are connected, one cannot be traded for the other, Shen said. Taiwan-US cooperation has grown increasingly close in recent years, with communication remaining smooth.
This showed that continued US dialogue with China had not adversely affected Taiwan-US relations and that cooperation between Taipei and Washington had continued to deepen, he said.
Shen reiterated that the government remained committed to healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges. He also called on Beijing to engage in dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected government on the basis of equality and dignity and without preconditions.
