The impact of the “726 recall case” in Taiwan has shaken the political landscape of the island. In contrast, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) across the strait has not been as high-profile or actively promoting and responding to the situation as before, showing significant differences in their approach.
An analysis report released by the Information Environment Research Center of Taiwan (IORG) on July 31st pointed out that after all Kuomintang (KMT) legislators passed the first wave of recall motions, Beijing’s response to the situation has changed significantly compared to before. Not only has the level of response been lower, but the pace of response has also slowed down.
The report indicated that this demonstrates the CCP’s attempt to downplay the impact of Taiwan’s direct citizen participation in politics, trying to prevent mainland Chinese people from paying attention to and awakening to the concept of “citizen political rights.”
According to the Information Environment Research Center of Taiwan, in comparison to the response after the 2024 Taiwan presidential election, this time the CCP’s Taiwan Affairs Office and other related departments only had a spokesperson respond the next day, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson merely quoting the remarks without further comment.
In its propaganda efforts, the CCP only emphasized that the “results are unrelated to cross-strait relations” in order to avoid influencing the subsequent recall vote. High-level official media such as the People’s Daily have not reported on this matter, with public opinion mainly concentrated in lower-tier media outlets like the Global Times, indicating Beijing’s deliberate reduction in response level.
The analysis report also emphasized that when reporting on this news, the CCP has consistently avoided using the term “recall,” instead opting for “voting,” to downplay the fact that Taiwanese citizens have the right to directly demand the resignation of officials through citizen political participation.
Furthermore, to avoid touching on the sensitive political taboo of the CCP’s political system, Beijing has refrained from directly mentioning that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials should be held accountable for the recall failure. Instead, they have quoted Taiwanese pundits or media comments, continuing to employ the “criticizing Taiwan from Taiwan” strategy to sow internal discord.
IORG believes that the CCP’s propaganda primarily focuses on how to strengthen the narrative that Taiwanese people do not support “resisting China to protect Taiwan,” aiming to avoid provoking Chinese people into paying attention to the political rights of Taiwanese citizens while maintaining its strategy of anti-Taiwan unification.
Overall, the CCP’s subdued and strategic response to the recall situation in Taiwan showcases its efforts to downplay the significance of citizen political participation and maintain control over the narrative surrounding cross-strait relations.