A report by Le Monde, filed from Beijing, details how China is using subsidized travel and youth exchange programs as a soft power tool to reshape how young Taiwanese perceive the mainland — with mixed results.
The article follows two Taiwanese university students, referred to by pseudonyms Mei and Lian, who traveled to China in January through an association offering heavily discounted trips specifically designed for Taiwanese youth. The pair paid only for their round-trip airfare plus a registration fee equivalent to roughly 100 euros (approximately $110 USD, or NT$3,700), with the remainder covered by subsidies from the Chinese government and provincial authorities — the same provincial bodies that house so-called “united front” departments tasked with cultivating support for Beijing’s agenda.
Over about ten days, the two visited Hangzhou — home to AI firms DeepSeek and Unitree, as well as Alibaba’s headquarters — before traveling to the Changbai Mountain region for snow scenery and then Harbin for its winter festival. Mei noted that China seemed more advanced than Taiwan in some respects, pointing to hotel robots that could navigate elevators and hallways to deliver food orders.
During the trip, the organizing association arranged meetings with Chinese peers of similar age. These individuals avoided aggressive political messaging and largely steered clear of direct discussions about unification — instead encouraging Mei and Lian to post photos of places they found beautiful or impressive on social media. With only around 1,000 followers each, the two were seen as authentic, unsponsored voices rather than obvious influencers.
The article concludes that the initiative was only partially successful. Both women came away impressed by China’s modernity, infrastructure, and scenery, but Mei’s sense of Taiwanese identity remained intact. “We want to keep our democracy,” she said. Her mother, for her part, refused to speak to her for two months after learning of the trip.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), February 26, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202602260307.aspx