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How does Xi Jinping’s United Front Work Department influence Taiwan’s democracy on the ground? This episode of “Broken News” investigates the case of China’s influence on Taiwan’s grassroots communities through “lizhang,” or community leaders, and religious “cultural exchanges” between temples in Taiwan and China.

Dive into a fascinating story of how China attempts to sow the seeds of manipulation at the roots of Taiwanese society through the promotion of cultural exchanges focused on the faith in Mazu and the influence of community leaders or lizhang. The story centers around the work of the Taiwan Affairs office in Beijing, China that works to execute General Secretary Xi Jinping’s orders for TaiwanChina unification. The manipulation of religion, politics, culture, and China's methods to influence grassroots democracy in Taiwan collide in an explosion of political intrigue. Through interviews with key figures including lizhang, politicians and academics, the team discover a coordinated effort by China on the ground and online that weaves together to try to undermine Taiwanese democracy at its very core. As a reckoning within Taiwanese society looms, some people view these exchanges purely on a cultural and religious level, while others view these exchanges as a vector of attack by the Chinese government on Taiwanese society. At the heart of the story are questions surrounding freedom of religion, travel and speech, as well as trust that their leaders and politicians will remain true to their country and not lead their compatriots astray.

How do these Chinese campaigns amongst grassroots leaders affect people’s views on democracy in Taiwan, and what do they mean for Taiwan’s democracy as a whole? Discover a unique story of religious freedom, politics and crossstrait relations in this groundbreaking episode of “Broken News.”

Chapters:
00:00 Broken News: How China Weaponizes Religious Freedom in Taiwan
01:43 Taiwan’s Religious Cultural Exchanges With China
04:00 Lin Kuohsin, Cultural Exchanges and the Chinese Unification Promotion Party
05:01 Chang Anlo, “The White Wolf” Leader of the Chinese Unification Promotion Party
06:36 The Mazu Faith, Temples and Taiwanese Pilgrimages to China
07:52 China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Uses Mazu Faith as an Influential Battleground
09:25 Taiwan Election Interference From China
10:06 Xi Jinping Dictates the Mazu Faith as a Key Way To Influence Taiwan
10:39 Lin Kuohsin Arrested on Voter Manipulation Allegations
11:27 Who Are Taiwan’s “Lizhang” and Why Do They Matter?
12:40 Xi Jinping’s Meeting With Taiwan’s Lizhang Association in 2014
13:20 How China Courted Taiwan’s Lizhang With ”Both Sides One Family”
14:25 Elected Officials Need Money To Keep Their Supporters
15:20 China’s Honeypot For Taiwan’s Lizhang
16:37 The Dangers of Trusted People Sharing Fake News at a Local Level
18:39 The ChinaTaiwan Unification Puzzle
19:44 Why Are People So Bothered About These Exchanges?
21:03 Kuomingtang (KMT) Opposition to the Judicial Inquiry Into the Lizhang
21:50 The Cultural Value of CrossStrait Exchanges
22:40 The Lizhang Are Just Doing Their Jobs
23:47 The Birth of Mazu Temple Exchanges
25:17 China Exploits Its Shared Culture With Taiwan For Political Gains
26:12 A Matter of Freedom of Religion, Travel and Speech
26:32 “Don’t Make It Political”

#XiJinping #Disinformation #Democracy #Mazu #CrossStraitRelations #UnitedFrontChina #ChinaTaiwanUnification #TaiwanIndependence #BrokenNews #TaiwanPlusDocs
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