Subsidized China trip for Taiwan teachers carries ’united front’ risk: MAC

Staff Writer, with CNA The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Tuesday warned that a heavily subsidized eight-day trip to Xinjiang, an autonomous region in China, aimed at young Taiwanese teachers could expose participants to Beijing’s "united front" influence operations.By targeting teachers through the upcoming summer trip, Chinese authorities may be seeking to establish "nodes" on Taiwanese campuses, MAC Deputy head Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) said ahead of a seminar in Taipei."If some teachers on Taiwanese campuses become nodes for united front work, it will become much easier for them (referring to Chinese authorities) to use those nodes to draw more young people into similar programs in the future," Shen said. A name and logo of the Mainland Affairs Council are pictured on a podium at the coun