Three members of the Taiwanese Yiguandao older than 70 have been detained in China for more than two months and could be imprisoned for up to seven years for religious activity in China. The case not only exposed China’s longstanding suppression of freedom of religion, but also demonstrated how the authoritarian state’s arbitrary detentions are a severe threat to human rights and safety.
According to their families, the three elderly Yiguandao followers had traveled across the Taiwan Strait many times in recent years to read religious texts with Chinese and never involved themselves in political activities. However, in early October, they were arrested by Chinese police in a raid on a religious gathering at a home in Guangdong Province.
The three Taiwanese were taken into custody without explanation or notice to Taiwan, against the Cross-Strait Joint Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, for more than two months. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office finally released a statement saying the three were detained on suspicion of “organizing and practicing as members of a cult that undermines law enforcement,” which carries a punishment of three to seven years imprisonment, or more if considered a severe offense.
Although China officially recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism and Taoism, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a long history of suppressing religion. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ascent, the Chinese government has further tightened its religious affairs regulations to step up its control over religious venues and activities for accomplishing Xi’s plan of “Sinicization” of religions, aiming to bring all religions in line with nationalism and “Xi Jinping thought.”
In addition to nationwide crackdowns on Christian celebrations and demolishing major mosques and churches, China last year imposed new regulations banning religious groups from having ties with foreign organizations and forcing them to deliver “patriotic” education to believers.
While the Chinese authorities called for an increase in religious exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, the arrest of Taiwanese Yiguandao followers has clearly demonstrated the CCP’s fundamental and consistent suppression of religious freedom.
The worrying situation in Hong Kong should have been a warning on China’s arbitrary detentions. A report by the Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights last month revealed that, under the territory’s new national security legislation, the number of prisoners there has increased to 9,280, a record high in a decade. Among those, the number of pretrial detainees has doubled, which has led to a systematic human rights crisis.
According to the Straits Exchange Foundation, there were at least 77 incidents reported of Taiwanese going missing in China between January last year and September, with more than 40 of those still unreachable. The Mainland Affairs Council has issued an alert regarding China’s increasing arbitrary imprisonment of Taiwanese members of religious groups in the past year, and cautioned against travel to China, especially since the imposition of new national security legislation that treats foreigners with more suspicion.
Religious exchanges allowed by Chinese authorities only serve as tools for its political “united front” purposes.
In recent years, Chinese government-controlled religious groups have reached out to Taiwanese religious groups and provided free trips to China to attend events promoting “united front” propaganda, such as: “Taiwan and China belong to one family” and “seeking the roots of religion in China.” Some religious groups even have been lured into plans to influence Taiwan’s elections and cross-strait policies.
Religious interactions between people across the Taiwan Strait should be encouraged, but the CCP government’s judicial threats and political manipulation call for caution.
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