The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is ramping up exchanges with folk religious groups in rural Taiwan, in an attempt to manipulate political opinion in Beijing's favor ahead of elections next month, according to Taiwan government documents and security officials.
Religious trips across the Taiwan Strait increased this year after the end of China's years-long "Zero COVID" policy, according to a review of the websites of the Chinese government, CCP-run religious groups and state media. Dozens of the trips were focused on the worship of Mazu, a sea goddess whose 10 million Taiwanese worshippers make her the island's most popular deity.
Reuters examined five Taiwanese security documents and interviewed five Taiwanese security officials, as well as five Mazu temple leaders and four analysts. They provided previously unreported details about how CCP officials have tried to build ties with religious establishments with inducements such as subsidized trips to China. Some of them spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters.