Taiwan Council to Investigate Youth Baseball Tournament in China for Propaganda Use

Six youth baseball teams from Taiwan are participating in the "2026 Dongsen Cup Cross-Strait (Liancheng) Youth Baseball Invitational Tournament" in Fujian, China. The event, co-organized by Taiwan's Dongsen Culture Foundation and Chinese officials, including a deputy director from the Taiwan Affairs Office, has drawn scrutiny from Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).

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If anyone reports it, we will handle it according to the law and conduct necessary investigations and verifications. We do not wish to see purely sports activities become a tool for China's united front work towards Taiwan.

MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng stated that the council will investigate any reports of the event being used as a tool for China's political propaganda. He expressed disapproval of purely sports activities being co-opted for China's unification agenda. This comes after a previous report revealed that over a thousand Taiwanese elementary students participated in exchanges in China last year, which were also flagged for potential propaganda purposes.

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Small ball connects, cross-strait hearts connect. We hope that based on the foundation of industrial aggregation and development in baseball, Liancheng will actively integrate into the construction of the cross-strait integrated development demonstration zone and vigorously promote the 'Baseball Town' project.

The tournament's theme is "Happy Baseball, Youth Chasing Dreams," and it aims to promote exchanges and cooperation in youth sports between Taiwan and Fujian province. Chinese officials, including Fujian Vice Governor Jiang Er-xiong, have framed the event as part of efforts to integrate Taiwan into China's development plans, particularly in building a demonstration zone for cross-strait integrated development.

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We hope for healthy and orderly exchanges across the strait, but it should be 'de-united front,' 'de-politicized,' and 'de-risked.'

Chiu emphasized that while cross-strait exchanges are encouraged, they should be healthy, orderly, and free from political manipulation. He specifically mentioned that if Taiwanese groups cooperate with China's "integrated development" initiatives, the MAC will investigate potential violations of cross-strait regulations. The council is also looking into whether the participating teams deliberately concealed their school names, which could be an attempt to circumvent government scrutiny.

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If Taiwanese groups cooperate with China's integrated development and united front efforts, we will investigate. If it involves violations of cross-strait regulations, we will have the relevant authorities investigate according to the law.