As media attention focuses on the eight-day, 300km Matsu pilgrimage which kicked off at midnight on Saturday, it is clear the annual event has become decidedly more political than when it began 200 years ago.
In the run-up to the March 18 presidential election, remarks from Yen Ching-piao (
Yen said that he would decide who to endorse in the election when Matsu gave him "future instruction." He later endorsed independent candidate James Soong (
Chen Lan Temple, in Tachia township (
Four of the presidential candidates included a visit to the temple in their busy schedules.
The election now over, only Soong and fellow independent candidate Hsu Hsin-liang (
Hsu vowed to prostrate himself along the entire trail, while Soong participated in the ceremony to see off a statue of the sea goddess Matsu, which will be carried throughout the pilgrimage in a palanquin.
The annual pilgrimage also serves as a touchstone for direct links between Taiwan and China.
Before the passage of the Offshore Island Development Law on March 21, over 100,000 Taiwanese Matsu worshippers yearly traveled either illegally in fishing boats across the Strait or went through a third country to reach Matsu temple in Meizhou (
With the passage of the law, worshippers can theoretically travel directly to China with a short stop in Kinmen, instead of going via Hong Kong or outlying Japanese islands.
An easing of the ban on direct links is the stated goal for temple chairman Yen Ching-piao.
On Jan. 30, Yen was joined by religious representatives on a trip to Fujian to conduct talks on a direct boat service for the annual pilgrimage. Earlier on Jan. 18, the Mainland Affairs Council and the transport ministry agreed that quasi-direct passenger boat services to China would be allowed after the March presidential election.
Chen Lan's fame as the starting point for the current pilgrimage, is offset, however, by the temple chairmen's reputation for their connections with organized crime groups.
Donations from Chen Lan's swelling number of believers have made the temple a prosperous business and sparked intense, and sometimes violent, competition between people vying for the coveted post of chairman.
ESCALATING TENSIONS: The US called for restraint and meaningful dialogue after Beijing threatened Taiwanese independence advocates with the death sentence The US on Monday condemned China’s “escalatory and destabilizing language and actions” toward Taiwan after Beijing last week announced new guidelines to punish supporters of Taiwanese independence. Asked about the guidelines, which included the death sentence for “diehard” independence advocates, US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said: “We strongly condemn the escalatory and destabilizing language and actions from PRC [People’s Republic of China] officials.” “We continue to urge restraint and no unilateral change to the status quo,” he said at the press briefing. The US urges China to “engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan,” Miller said, adding that “threats and legal
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
WATER CONCERNS: The CWA encouraged people to conserve water, as fewer typhoons would bring less rain, and the plum rain season brought in only 60% of average rainfall About two to four typhoons are forecast to come close to Taiwan between now and November, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, as it also forecast that extreme heat would persist throughout the week, only dropping by 1°C after Friday. The number of typhoons is slightly lower than the average of three to five, reflecting a weakening El Nino weather pattern and the possibility of a La Nina pattern approaching, CWA Weather Forecast Center Director Chen Yi-liang (陳怡良) told a news conference in Taipei. While typically fewer typhoons develop under such conditions, their routes would be more likely to pass near