Fri, Jul 22, 2005 page3

• MAC defends stance on Shaolin monks

  PERFORMERS, NOT TEACHERS The council said that it had not approved a request for a group of monks to give lessons at camps because the rules did not allow for it

  • By Shih Hsiu-chuan / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Mainland Affairs Council's rejection of an application for Chinese Shaolin monks to teach Shaolin Kung Fu in summer camps has prompted complaints that the government is trying to restrain cross-strait exchange activities.

  MAC Vice Chairman Johnnason Liu (劉德勳) told a press conference yesterday, called in response to the complaints, that the application had not been approved because the proposal violated government regulations.

  The case is still under negotiation, Liu said.

  "We encourage all kinds of cross-strait exchange activities as long as they are held in accordance with regulations," he said.

  However, the Chinese Shaolin Association, one of the groups that submitted the application, announced on its Web site yesterday that it had decided to cancel the camps.

  The application was submitted by the association and Taiwan SECOM on June 20. According to the application, 45 monks from the Song Shan Shaolin Temple in Henan Province, China would be invited to teach Shaolin Kung Fu at summer camps that would be held at 23 different venues over a 45-day period starting July 25.

  The camps would be open to everyone and would be held in public facilities such as school playgrounds and parks, but it would cost NT$1,200 for 10 hours of lessons.

  Liu said that current regulations only allow Chinese professionals to come to Taiwan for professional exchanges.

  "They [the monks] can give performances in professional locations such as martial arts studios, but not in parks or schools. They can exchange skills with Taiwanese martial arts personnel, but not teach the general public. Charging for lessons would also be illegal," Liu said.

  The association and Taiwan Secom started to advertise the camps before they received the government's permission for the monks to come and they also collected fees, which was wrong, he said.

  Shiau-shinn Lin (林孝信), chairman of Taiwan Secom, blasted the government's decision in an interview in a Chinese-language newspaper yesterday.

  "We invited some other Chinese Shaolin monks to Taiwan in early June. I don't understand why the government now has a different position on the issue," Lin said.

  The association told the newspaper that the application was rejected by the council on the grounds of "national security."

  However, Liu said that the Shaolin monks who came last month received permission to visit because they were to perform at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and they did not give lessons to the public. The two cases were different, he said.
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