As media attention focuses on the eight-day, 300km Matsu pilgrimage which kicked off at midnight on Saturday, it is clear the annual event has become decidedly more political than when it began 200 years ago.
In the run-up to the March 18 presidential election, remarks from Yen Ching-piao (
Yen said that he would decide who to endorse in the election when Matsu gave him "future instruction." He later endorsed independent candidate James Soong (
Chen Lan Temple, in Tachia township (
Four of the presidential candidates included a visit to the temple in their busy schedules.
The election now over, only Soong and fellow independent candidate Hsu Hsin-liang (
Hsu vowed to prostrate himself along the entire trail, while Soong participated in the ceremony to see off a statue of the sea goddess Matsu, which will be carried throughout the pilgrimage in a palanquin.
The annual pilgrimage also serves as a touchstone for direct links between Taiwan and China.
Before the passage of the Offshore Island Development Law on March 21, over 100,000 Taiwanese Matsu worshippers yearly traveled either illegally in fishing boats across the Strait or went through a third country to reach Matsu temple in Meizhou (
With the passage of the law, worshippers can theoretically travel directly to China with a short stop in Kinmen, instead of going via Hong Kong or outlying Japanese islands.
An easing of the ban on direct links is the stated goal for temple chairman Yen Ching-piao.
On Jan. 30, Yen was joined by religious representatives on a trip to Fujian to conduct talks on a direct boat service for the annual pilgrimage. Earlier on Jan. 18, the Mainland Affairs Council and the transport ministry agreed that quasi-direct passenger boat services to China would be allowed after the March presidential election.
Chen Lan's fame as the starting point for the current pilgrimage, is offset, however, by the temple chairmen's reputation for their connections with organized crime groups.
Donations from Chen Lan's swelling number of believers have made the temple a prosperous business and sparked intense, and sometimes violent, competition between people vying for the coveted post of chairman.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS