Lien, Soong look for help from above

Two of the main candidates are stepping up their drive to win the hearts of Taiwan's religious devotees by rallying the support of prominent religious leaders.

Yesterday, the KMT's Lien Chan (連戰) received an endorsement from Buddhist Master Wei-chueh (惟覺), and independent presidential contender James Soong (宋楚瑜) is scheduled to meet with Master Cheng-yen (證嚴) today in Hualien County.

Both Lien and President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) attended the opening ceremony yesterday of the "Chinese Century Buddhist Association" (中國世紀佛教協進會) founded by Master Wei-chueh in Taipei County, to appeal for his support.

Surrounded by reportedly over 50,000 followers, Master Wei-chueh gushed with praise of Lien's character and the KMT's leadership.

"If the KMT loses the election, then Taiwan's position will be jeopardized. Only supporting the KMT's Lien-Siew ticket can guarantee Taiwan's safety," Master Wei-chueh said.

"Over the past century in Taiwan, the first 50 years was under Japanese rule, and it was like hell for me. Since then, however, Taiwan has been governed by the KMT, and it has been more like heaven to me."

Master Wei-chueh questioned the practice of separating religion and politics, saying, "Some propose the separation of politics and religion. But I regard such an approach as similar to that adopted by the Chinese Red Guards [in the Chinese Cultural Revolution].''

The religious leader's comments may have gone down with nary a shrug of incredulity among his followers, but other critics were not so forgiving yesterday.

"Coming from a religious leader, Master Wei-chueh's remarks are easily challenged, since in modern democratic countries, the separation of politics and religion is a basic principle that needs to be followed,'' said Chiu Hai-yuan (瞿海源), a sociology professor at National Taiwan University.

The Buddhist gathering was obviously not the only item on the KMT leaders' itinerary yesterday, as both Lee and Lien yesterday rushed off to attend a meeting of the popular religious group "Tai-chi Gate" (太極門) in Taoyuan County.

Both Lee and Lien are Christians, but this seemed to matter little to their audiences.

Soong, meanwhile, will meet with Master Cheng-yen, the head of the Buddhist compassion Tzu-Chi Foundation (慈濟) today.

The Tzu-Chi Foundation is reportedly the largest Buddhist group in Taiwan, with an estimated membership of over one million believers. It was one of the most active non-government organizations involved in earthquake relief work last year.

In another development, former president of the Control Yuan Chen Li-an (陳履安), who ran in the first presidential race in 1996 as a pious Buddhist, is scheduled to hold a press conference today to clarify his stance on the upcoming presidential election.

Chen's former running mate, Wang Ching-fung (王清峰), came out yesterday to say Chen was falling for "the KMT's old trick" to bring him into the open to boost Lien's poor popularity rating. Chen and Wang obtained 10 percent of the vote in the 1996 election.

Such campaigning is hardly new, considering the enormous influence that religious groups have in Taiwan society. And while observers said that most religious groups claimed they would not intervene in the election, the relationship between religious groups and political parties remains extremely close.

Chiu Hai-yuan agreed, saying that the focal point of religious mobilization lies at local temples or shrines.