MAC investigating Chinese temple's unapproved activities in Taiwan

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is investigating reports that members of China's Fumei Temple conducted religious activities in Taiwan without the approval of Taiwan's government, according to MAC head Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正).

Chiu said Monday that the group may have sought to evade Taiwan's regulatory procedures or filed a false application, and that Taiwan's authorities are looking into the case.

"There is no application on record for Fumei Temple (富美宮) to come to Taiwan to conduct religious exchanges," Chiu told reporters before a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Internal Administration Committee.

The probe follows a report by Taiwanese newspaper the Liberty Times stating that the temple delegation, claiming to be an ancestral shrine from Quanzhou, a city in China's Fujian province, visited several Taiwanese temples and organizations, including the Hsiao clan association (蕭氏宗親會).

The report said that the group also planned to join the Baishatun Mazu pilgrimage, an annual religious procession between the Taiwanese counties of Miaoli and Yunlin.

Chiu said the incident reflects a broader pattern of China "using religious and cultural exchanges as a means of United Front infiltration," referring to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) activities aimed at promoting political unification between China and Taiwan.

Asked whether Fumei Temple had visited Taiwan in the past, Chiu told reporters he "hadn't really heard of it" before and the authorities were investigating.