Soft Power Seduction: China Lures Taiwan's Youth

Published: Aug. 23, 2018, 8 p.m.

b'

Young Taiwanese entrepreneurs working in a start-up hub are offered attractive sweeteners. But this isn\\u2019t in California or even Taipei, it\\u2019s on the outskirts of Shanghai. The People\\u2019s Republic of China is setting its sights on Taiwan\\u2019s youth by encouraging them to relocate to the \\u2018mainland\\u2019. Wages in Taiwan have stagnated as its economic growth has failed to keep pace with that of China, prompting thousands of people to leave the island and head to the mega cities of the People\\u2019s Republic for better jobs and access to greater opportunities.\\nIn February the Chinese government unveiled a package of measures to attract Taiwanese young people and businesses to the mainland, with tax breaks, subsidies, research grants and access to government contracts.\\nTaiwan\\u2019s current pro-independence government is worried about a potential \\u2018brain drain\\u2019 and there are fears that Beijing, which views Taiwan as a rebel province is using its vast economic clout in a soft power offensive to promote and enhance social and commercial integration between its young peoples. \\nCaroline Bayley travels to Shanghai and Taipei to meet young Taiwanese and asks whether Taiwan\\u2019s younger generation can be lured in this way by China and whether Taiwan can do anything to stem the exodus.

Presenter/Producer: Caroline Bayley

Image: Chinese flags in central Shanghai\\nCredit: BBC

'