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
With escalating US-China competition and mutual distrust, the trend of supply chain “friend shoring” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fragmentation of the world into rival geopolitical blocs, many analysts and policymakers worry the world is retreating into a new cold war — a world of trade bifurcation, protectionism and deglobalization. The world is in a new cold war, said Robin Niblett, former director of the London-based think tank Chatham House. Niblett said he sees the US and China slowly reaching a modus vivendi, but it might take time. The two great powers appear to be “reversing carefully
As China steps up a campaign to diplomatically isolate and squeeze Taiwan, it has become more imperative than ever that Taipei play a greater role internationally with the support of the democratic world. To help safeguard its autonomous status, Taiwan needs to go beyond bolstering its defenses with weapons like anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. With the help of its international backers, it must also expand its diplomatic footprint globally. But are Taiwan’s foreign friends willing to translate their rhetoric into action by helping Taipei carve out more international space for itself? Beating back China’s effort to turn Taiwan into an international pariah
Typhoon Krathon made landfall in southwestern Taiwan last week, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and flooding, cutting power to more than 170,000 homes and water supply to more than 400,000 homes, and leading to more than 600 injuries and four deaths. Due to the typhoon, schools and offices across the nation were ordered to close for two to four days, stirring up familiar controversies over whether local governments’ decisions to call typhoon days were appropriate. The typhoon’s center made landfall in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) at noon on Thursday, but it weakened into a tropical depression early on Friday, and its structure
Taiwan is facing multiple economic challenges due to internal and external pressures. Internal challenges include energy transition, upgrading industries, a declining birthrate and an aging population. External challenges are technology competition between the US and China, international supply chain restructuring and global economic uncertainty. All of these issues complicate Taiwan’s economic situation. Taiwan’s reliance on fossil fuel imports not only threatens the stability of energy supply, but also goes against the global trend of carbon reduction. The government should continue to promote renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, as well as energy storage technology, to diversify energy supply. It