Three members of the Taiwanese Yiguandao older than 70 have been detained in China for more than two months and could be imprisoned for up to seven years for religious activity in China. The case not only exposed China’s longstanding suppression of freedom of religion, but also demonstrated how the authoritarian state’s arbitrary detentions are a severe threat to human rights and safety.
According to their families, the three elderly Yiguandao followers had traveled across the Taiwan Strait many times in recent years to read religious texts with Chinese and never involved themselves in political activities. However, in early October, they were arrested by Chinese police in a raid on a religious gathering at a home in Guangdong Province.
The three Taiwanese were taken into custody without explanation or notice to Taiwan, against the Cross-Strait Joint Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, for more than two months. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office finally released a statement saying the three were detained on suspicion of “organizing and practicing as members of a cult that undermines law enforcement,” which carries a punishment of three to seven years imprisonment, or more if considered a severe offense.
Although China officially recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism and Taoism, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a long history of suppressing religion. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ascent, the Chinese government has further tightened its religious affairs regulations to step up its control over religious venues and activities for accomplishing Xi’s plan of “Sinicization” of religions, aiming to bring all religions in line with nationalism and “Xi Jinping thought.”
In addition to nationwide crackdowns on Christian celebrations and demolishing major mosques and churches, China last year imposed new regulations banning religious groups from having ties with foreign organizations and forcing them to deliver “patriotic” education to believers.
While the Chinese authorities called for an increase in religious exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, the arrest of Taiwanese Yiguandao followers has clearly demonstrated the CCP’s fundamental and consistent suppression of religious freedom.
The worrying situation in Hong Kong should have been a warning on China’s arbitrary detentions. A report by the Hong Kong Centre for Human Rights last month revealed that, under the territory’s new national security legislation, the number of prisoners there has increased to 9,280, a record high in a decade. Among those, the number of pretrial detainees has doubled, which has led to a systematic human rights crisis.
According to the Straits Exchange Foundation, there were at least 77 incidents reported of Taiwanese going missing in China between January last year and September, with more than 40 of those still unreachable. The Mainland Affairs Council has issued an alert regarding China’s increasing arbitrary imprisonment of Taiwanese members of religious groups in the past year, and cautioned against travel to China, especially since the imposition of new national security legislation that treats foreigners with more suspicion.
Religious exchanges allowed by Chinese authorities only serve as tools for its political “united front” purposes.
In recent years, Chinese government-controlled religious groups have reached out to Taiwanese religious groups and provided free trips to China to attend events promoting “united front” propaganda, such as: “Taiwan and China belong to one family” and “seeking the roots of religion in China.” Some religious groups even have been lured into plans to influence Taiwan’s elections and cross-strait policies.
Religious interactions between people across the Taiwan Strait should be encouraged, but the CCP government’s judicial threats and political manipulation call for caution.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS