China has been acting strangely lately in terms of developing religious ties with Taiwan.
Whenever a country acts against its staunch beliefs, we must be alert and wonder whether its government is up to something.
Over the past few years, China has zealously held annual celebrations for divinities that are mostly worshipped by Taiwanese.
Beijing has launched religious pilgrimages with the goal of attracting Taiwanese worshipers to visit shrines in China. China's motivation for such religious practices is multifaceted.
On the one hand, attracting Taiwanese tourists means bringing in cash.
On the other hand, this sort of religious exchange between average people in Taiwan and China is laced with political incentive.
China is trying to forge a religious bond it can use to argue that China and Taiwan are one and must be unified as a nation.
China's enthusiastic support of religious activities runs counter to Communism. Since its establishment in 1949, the People's Republic of China has consistently trampled on freedom of religion.
It has upheld the belief that religion is "the opium of the masses," and to this day only allows religion in a strictly state-controlled form and ruthlessly cracks down on religious groups.
While China continues to oppress the right to personal religious beliefs, it is also suddenly encouraging celebrations of Matsu, the God of Medicine and, more recently, the Birth-Registry Lady.
It is clear that this sudden change must benefit them and it would seem to be specifically targeted at making an argument for unification with Taiwan. The divinities on the state-sponsored list happen to be highly respected among Taiwanese.
Regardless of religious similarities between China and Taiwan, nationality and religious beliefs are not the same thing.
Before China continues wasting its time on manipulating religious issues for political purposes, China might consider one hard fact; Muslims who travel abroad to make the pilgrimage to Mecca don't think that makes them Saudi Arabians.
Cheng Yong-rui
Tamsui, Taipei County
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
Last week, 24 Republican representatives in the US Congress proposed a resolution calling for US President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon the US’ “one China” policy, calling it outdated, counterproductive and not reflective of reality, and to restore official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, enter bilateral free-trade agreement negotiations and support its entry into international organizations. That is an exciting and inspiring development. To help the US government and other nations further understand that Taiwan is not a part of China, that those “one China” policies are contrary to the fact that the two countries across the Taiwan Strait are independent and
RSS