The Taiwan Statebuilding Party yesterday alleged that a visit planned by the Matsu Temple in Meizhou Township in China’s Fujian Province for November is an attempt by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to use religion as part of its “united front” tactics.
The party urged national security agencies to thoroughly vet those visiting to prevent Chinese spies from entering Taiwan.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) said that multiple groups, including the Taiwan Matsu Fellowship, had signed a petition requesting that the Meizhou Matsu tour Taiwan.
Photo: Yang Chin-cheng, Taipei Times
The Meizhou temple had been quick to respond and arranged to visit from Nov. 3 to 13, she said.
Matsu is a deity revered by people on both sides of the Strait, and the Meizhou Matsu is no stranger to Taiwan, having previously visited to great fanfare, Zhu said.
The TAO is “happy to see the Meizhou Matsu tour Taiwan and bless our Taiwanese compatriots with her grace,” Zhu said.
Taiwan Statebuilding Party Chairman Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) said that trade, commerce, religion, education, culture and tourism are all means used by China to spread its “united front” rhetoric.
Anyone who denies this is either working with China or is completely ignorant of China, he said.
Wang said The Economist had reported that China was attempting to infiltrate Taiwan via connections in religious circles.
The Taiwan Matsu Fellowship and the Taiwan First Matsu Fellowship, representing Jenn Lann Temple (鎮瀾宮) in Taichung’s Dajia District (大甲) and Gongfan Temple (拱範宮) in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) respectively, had previously invited the Meizhou Matsu to Taiwan, Wang said, adding that high-ranking representatives of both fellowships had also met with TAO Director Song Tao (宋濤).
Wang called on the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) to base its review of the Meizhou group on whether any are mouthpieces for China’s “united front” tactics and asked national security agencies to prevent questionable parties from entering Taiwan.
Taiwan Statebuilding Party spokeswoman Yang Pei-hua (楊佩樺) said that China is using the event as a platform for its “united front” rhetoric, even saying that Matsu is like a mother to Taiwanese.
The Matsu Temple has sent out invites to Taiwanese temples and followers asking them to attend events in Fujian, she said, adding that Chinese media are reporting that Taiwan’s religious groups are answering the invitations.
National security agencies must be on guard regarding the November visit, she said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS