The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is giving money to templegoers in Taiwan and subsidizing trips for them to visit China, a Taiwanese intelligence official said yesterday.
The CCP is partially or fully funding Taiwanese’s trips to China to attend religious pilgrimages and events as part of “united front” efforts, the source said, adding that it incentivizes the recruitment of more participants by paying borough wardens and temple heads based on the number of people who sign up for trips.
The CCP has been targeting Taiwan’s most popular temples and recently organized a trip to attend an event in China’s Fujian Province celebrating the sea goddess Matsu’s (媽祖) 1,065th birthday, the source said.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Templegoers have also been invited to visit cultural sites in China to “promote a language, ancestry and cultural roots shared between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait,” they said.
“The CCP pays NT$1,000 per person recruited by temple and borough heads to attend these events. If they manage to sign up 100 people or more, that rate doubles,” they said.
“Participants at most pay for their airfare. Everything else is covered after their arrival,” the source said, adding that officials from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office often show up to speak to the Taiwanese participants.
“Some borough wardens see this as a free trip to China, while others avoid traveling with the groups, seemingly concerned about being seen as group leaders. Instead, they meet up with the group later in China to create the impression that they are traveling separately,” they said.
Officials have found examples of such trips by temples large and small throughout Taiwan, including in Miaoli and rural parts of Tainan, they added.
“Accepting CCP-funded hospitality does not align with the norms of legitimate exchanges,” they said.
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