Buddhist Master Wei Chueh (
Buddhist leaders yesterday held a press conference at the Legislative Yuan to condemn Wei Chueh's "inappropriate behavior."
"Buddhist monks and Buddhist nuns never lie. How can he use his alarmist talk to terrify people? It's spreading wild rumors to blind the mind of the people," said Shih, who is also an associate professor at Hsuan Chuang University (玄奘大學).
PHOTO: CHEN TSEH-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"His anti-democratic words and deeds humiliate Buddhist circles," Shih said.
On Tuesday, Wei expressed his support for the pan-blue camp when the alliance's presidential candidate, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), and his running mate, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), visited the Chung Tai Chan Monastery (中台禪寺). Wei Chueh, who is the head of the monastery, also branded the referendum illegal and urged Buddhists to boycott it.
Wei Chueh also said that the proposed Religious Groups Act (宗教團體法), which had been drafted by the Executive Yuan as part of a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) initiative, infringed on religious groups' independence in financial and personnel matters. He said the law would further "destroy religionists."
Shih said yesterday that the Chung Tai Chan Monastery might end up being the most terrible religious monster in Taiwan, because it arbitrarily did illegal things, such as occupying state-owned lands.
She added that the opulent monastery in the center of the country was a galling shame to Buddhists.
"The over-commercialized Chung Tai Chan Monastery's use of political leverage to influence the Religious Groups Act is absolutely inappropriate," Shih added.
Lin Jung-chih (林蓉芝), secretary-general of the Chinese Buddhist Temple Association, said that Wei Chueh's criticism was nonsense, because the current draft of the law was based on common sense and had been endorsed by members of a religious counsel under the Ministry of the Interior, including representatives from the monastery.
Lin Pen-hsuan (林本炫), an assistant professor in both religion and sociology at Nanhua University, said the act was aimed at establishing sound regulations for "religious corporate organizations."
He had drafted the law along with representatives from five major religions about three years ago.
Lin Pen-hsuan said that the only voice against the law had been raised by the Chung Tai Chan Monastery.
"They are reluctant to make their accounts transparent and to deal with illegal construction problems," Lin Pen-hsuan said.
He said the Legislative Yuan's evaluation of the proposed act had been suspended.
Meanwhile, Lin Pen-hsuan said, KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (
Two of Wei Chueh's disciples tore up the certificates proclaiming them Buddhists at a DPP office in Taichung yesterday to express their disappointment.
Chuan Chieh (
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
The Republic of China Army Command yesterday relieved Kinmen Defense Battalion commander after authorities indicted the officer on charges connected to using methamphetamine. The Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday detained Colonel He (何) after the Coast Guard linked him to drug shipments and proceeded to charge him yesterday for using and possessing crystal meth. The man was released on a NT$50,000 bail and banned from leaving Kinmen, the office said. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) told a news conference yesterday that He has been removed and another officer is taking over the unit as the acting commander. The military
RSS