Taiwan is investigating a group from a temple in China over suspicions they’re in Taiwan to promote unification under the guise of a religious exchange. Taipei says it's the latest in increasing attempts by China to infiltrate Taiwanese society.
00:00Representatives from a temple in China are being investigated over suspicions there in Taiwan to promote unification under the guise of a religious exchange.
00:10Rhys Ayers also joins us now from our newsroom with more on this case.
00:14Rhys, how has a religious exchange gotten so political?
00:21Well, for Taiwan, it's all a matter of national security.
00:24As authorities here continue to look for ways that China is trying to infiltrate the country.
00:31Now, in this particular case, the Mainland Affairs Council, or MIC, they deal with issues relating to China.
00:38They received reports that a group from the Fumei Temple in China's Fujian province,
00:43they were meeting with temples and local officials here in Taiwan during their visit.
00:49Now, why is that an issue?
00:51Well, Taiwan's got very clear and strict regulations on Chinese citizens who visit Taiwan,
00:58including and particularly groups who intend on coming here to do so-called professional exchanges.
01:05And that would include these kinds of religious exchanges.
01:10And apparently there's no record of this group applying for the relevant permits that would allow them to have meetings with,
01:17as these reports say, with local village chiefs or local temples.
01:23Now, the fear from officials here is that this group has entered Taiwan through other means that are still being investigated,
01:31and that they've done that to conduct united front work for Beijing.
01:36Now, that's essentially a campaign by the Chinese Communist Party, which attempts to influence and recruit people outside of China to promote Beijing's agenda.
01:47And that includes bringing Taiwan under China's control.
01:53And, Rhys, where do fears of these attempts by Beijing to carry out united front work in Taiwan come from?
02:00Well, the Taiwanese government has expressed concerns over increased and varied attempts by Beijing to infiltrate Taiwanese society.
02:12And that includes through bribing military officers, through social media campaigns,
02:18coercing politicians, and also through these kinds of religious exchanges.
02:23Now, this most recent incident led the NAC to say that for several years now,
02:30the Chinese Communist Party has been using these kinds of religious exchanges as a way to promote its policy of unifying Taiwan with China.
02:41And these ongoing attempts have led lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party
02:46to put forward a set of proposed amendments to national security laws.
02:51Those amendments would increase penalties and broaden the scope of those laws to include punishments for not only the people who are actively managing campaigns by the United Front,
03:04but even intermediaries who receive or pass on information or funding from them.
03:10Now, the Interior Ministry has also recently set up a website for groups from Taiwan hoping to engage in religious exchanges on the other side.
03:21And I've asked them to log in and make public the details of their visit and the intentions another mechanism to potentially deter or catch nefarious exchanges going either way.
