Many countries around the world have expressed concern about China’s growing influence on international academic campuses. Beijing’s Confucius Institutes, by investing heavily overseas to promote the study of the Chinese language and culture, are viewed as China’s move to increase its soft power.” According to the National Association of Scholars (NAS), there were 103 Confucius Institutes in the U.S. in 2017. As of July 9, the number had dropped to 41, with several schools set to close later this year or next.

This year, Taiwan started to explore the international Chinese language teaching market more actively. The Overseas Community Affairs Council under the Executive Yuan of Taiwan announced in June that it would set up 20 “Taiwan Chinese Language Learning Centers” in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France and other countries in the hope of promoting the Chinese language. Seventeen of these will be in the U.S.

Since last year. the U.S. has been seeking to expand the platform for learning Chinese. Last December, the U.S. and Taiwan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on international education cooperation and launched the “U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative.”

In March of this year, twenty-one Republican members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Education to consider using a program with Taiwan to offer “censorship-free alternatives” to the China-backed Confucius Institutes on many U.S. college campuses.

Taiwan’s representative in the U.S., Hsiao Bi-khim, said in an interview, “The learning environment in Taiwan (Centers) is different from that in the Confucius Institutes. The biggest difference is that we are in a free space. There will be no government to influence or challenge personal freedom in this regard due to the issue of speech.”

Source: BBC Chinese, August 13, 2021
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-58170293

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that Lithuanian ambassador to China Diana (Diana Mickeviciene) had just arrived in Beijing and completed the mandatory quarantine. Then they immediately told her to “go back home.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying commented on the matter and emphasized that the meaning of the one-China principle cannot be distorted. Hua said that Lithuania allowed Taiwan to set up a “representative office” under the name of “Taiwan,” which seriously damaged China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. China has the right and should make a legitimate and reasonable response. China will never agree to the act of adhering to the one-China principle, while in fact openly engaging in official contacts with the Taiwan authorities, or even standing for the “Taiwan independence” forces. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania said that it “regrets” China’s decision. According to French media, Mickeviciene had just arrived in Beijing when she was told that she must return to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, as soon as possible.

Source: Sina, August 12, 2021
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2021-08-12/doc-ikqcfncc2497414.shtml

Beijing tried to downplay Taiwan during the Olympics in Tokyo. It demanded that people use, “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan.” It cut off the television signal during the award ceremony after two Taiwanese badminton players beat the duo from the mainland and won the gold medal. It also tried to suppress and intimidate Taiwanese celebrities for political reasons. During the recent Olympic games, two high-profile Taiwanese celebrities were attacked because they posted messages to cheer on Taiwanese Olympic Athletes.

Dee Hsu, a formal Taiwanese talk show host was denounced for being Taiwan pro-independence after she posted messages on Instagram cheering for Taiwan Olympic athletes. Four mainland companies terminated their sponsorship agreements with Hsu. Another mainland company that sponsored her daughter also terminated the contract.

Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai was also attacked for her posting in which she cheered for Taiwanese athletes. She was accused of being a Taiwan independence activist and told that, because of it, she shouldn’t come to China to make money.

In addition to these recent incidents, on numerous occasions, Beijing has been bullying celebrities from Taiwan. The following includes only a partial list of incidents:
1. Kulilay Amit, who goes by A-mei as her stage name, sang the Taiwan national anthem at the presidential inauguration in 2000. Beijing banned her for four years.
2. At the 2010 Tokyo Film Festival, Beijing insisted that the Taiwan delegation must be introduced as the “Taiwan, China delegation.” The Taiwan delegation disputed this and, as a result, chose to skip the red carpet celebration.
3. In 2013, Zhang Xuan, a Taiwanese singer took a Taiwan National flag from a fan during a concert in Manchester England and told the crowd that the flag is the national flag from her hometown. As a result, her concert, scheduled for later in the year in Beijing, was cancelled.
4. In 2015, Chou Tzu-yu, a Taiwanese singer performed for a Korean band. She was accused of being a pro-Taiwan Independent activist for introducing herself as Taiwanese and for holding a Taiwan flag in her hand in one of her TV appearances in Korea. Chou had to publicly apologize on her Weibo account.
5. In 2016, Taiwan actor Dai Liren lost his role in a movie because the communist youth league posted on its official weibo account that Dai is pro-independence. Dai denied the claim.
6. In 2017, Doris Wang performed a live song in a TV program that Taiwan public television broadcasted. Because the name of the song is called “Beautiful Island,” Wang was accused of being pro-independence. The recording company forced her to apologize. Otherwise they would have imposed hefty fines on her.
7. In 2018, Guangdong Provincial Press, Publication and Radio Bureau banned “My Dear Boy” a Taiwanese television series, because it accepted funding from the Taiwan Ministry of Culture.

8. In 2018, the movie, “Missing Johnny,” was banned in China because actor Lawrence Ko was a “pro-independence activist.”
9. The movie, “Hello Mr. Billionaire,” achieved an impressive box office success in China. Vivian Sung, the lead actress from Taiwan was accused to being pro-independence because she said in one of her earlier interviews that her favorite country is Taiwan. Sung had to issue an apology on weibo.

Source: Epoch Times, August 3, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/8/3/n13134587.htm