New Taipei, Taiwan – At Lixing Fude Temple, one of the largest in the densely populated Zhonghe District of New Taipei City, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate William Lai Ching-te and DPP parliamentary candidate Wu Zheng lit incense and prayed for health and safety and peace for Taiwan.

Offerings to the community’s local god were left at the altar: fresh fruit baskets, green flags and water bottles with the faces of Lai and Wu.

After an opening ceremony, temple leaders offered candidates large bunches of garlic sprouts – a symbol of the popular phrase “dongsuan,” often heard at campaign rallies and meaning “frozen garlic” in Mandarin but sounding like “getting elected” in Taiwanese. Then Lai and Wu, surrounded by local party and temple leaders, addressed the crowd of about 200 people packed into the temple’s atrium.

“Taiwan has been an orphan in the world for a long time. But now it’s different. “Everyone is looking at Taiwan,” Wu said. “We have to vote for Lai so that we can continue the last eight years [current president] Tsai’s policies that make us known to the world.”

The fusion of political and religious life, marked by dozens of temple visits, meetings with religious leaders and participation in religious events and festivals, is a cultural focus during Taiwan’s elections.

According to the American Institute in Taiwan, nearly 28 percent of Taiwanese follow folk religions (such as the worship of local deities), and 20 percent practice them Buddhism19 percent are Taoist and 25 percent describe themselves as non-believers. Many of Taiwan’s local places of worship combine Buddhist, Taoist and even Christian practices.

Temples are more than just religious organizations, they have long been the cornerstones of their local communities, especially in rural areas. The Interior Ministry estimates there are 33,000 places of worship in Taiwan, an average of about one per square kilometer.

Taiwan’s believers are such an important constituency Foxconn founder Terry Gou invoked deities several times while floating the idea of ​​running for president in 2019 and 2023, and claimed earlier this year that the Buddhist-Taoist seafaring goddess Mazu came to him in a dream and told him to do so participate in the elections to promote cross-strait peace. (Gou qualified to appear on the ballot this year but withdrew from the race in November.)

Candidates also stop at Taiwan’s major religious institutions with large followings, such as the Buddha Light Mountain, whose late leader, the “political monk” Hsing Yun, supported President Ma Ying-jeou of the pro-China KMT and met Chinese President Xi Jinping several times .

As Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections As we approach, some of Taiwan’s top candidates are making almost daily campaign stops at temples. On Jan. 13, the self-governing island of nearly 24 million people will elect a new president and parliament in an election that will decide the future of its relations with China, which views Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve his goal.

Hsu Ci-ting and Tseng Tong-ping are local volunteers in Lixing Fude. They say temples are not only convenient places for candidates to meet voters, but also a way for candidates to show respect for local deities by praying for good fortune during elections.

“The candidates who come here can reduce the distance between themselves and the local people,” Tseng said.

Lin Kuan-jen, the temple’s director, said temples have long been “a public place for Taiwan’s democratic development and freedom of expression.”

Lin says he has known Lai since he was mayor of the southern city of Tainan from 2010 to 2017. He also supported young people during the 2014 Sunflower Movement, a student protest against a proposed free trade agreement with China, where he met Wu.

Hou Yu-ihthe KMT candidate and current mayor of New Taipei City, was also invited to the temple before the end of the election campaign.

Local temple leaders are often involved in local politics and are well-connected in the community and receive funding from influential elites, says Richard Madsen, professor emeritus at the University of California San Diego and author of a book on religious development since the advent of democracy Taiwan.

“Temples give out things like charitable donations and so on… stuff like that [if] “If you’re a politician, you want to use networks like these,” he said, adding a note of caution. “[In] In some places these temples were funded by local gangs. [and used for] for money laundering.”

Many of Taiwan’s major religions and religious organizations also have historical and organizational ties to China, making them fertile ground for the Chinese Communist Party’s influence and election interference.

However, this influence is difficult to track due to the lack of government oversight of donations to temples and their exemption from property and income taxes, according to Lin Hsien-ming, an assistant professor at the Center for Teacher Education at National Pingtung University.

According to Reuters news agency, the Taiwanese government is on high alert as there is evidence that China is trying to influence Taiwanese voters by funding China-friendly campaigns conducted through apps or group tours.

Sources identified temples as a risk area, particularly those where religious services take place Smallwhich has a strong following on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

China often uses the rhetoric of “one family” in its discourse about Mazu, using the goddess’s Chinese origins to show that “both sides of the strait are one family,” and like Mazu, the people of Taiwan come from China, Lin said.

Taiwan’s legislature has repeatedly tried to draft new laws to modernize religious regulation while upholding democratic principles, often sparking outcry.

In 2022, lawmakers passed a law allowing religious institutions to switch property registration from individuals to the organization, which is intended to help prevent individuals from appropriating temple assets.

“No politician will say that they will ban people from religious exchanges, because supporters will say, ‘Religion is religion and politics is politics.’ The real situation is that they cannot be separated,” Lin said. “If you really want to ban it, I think it will be very difficult for both Greens [DPP] and blue [KMT] Politician.”

Back at Lixing Fude Temple, leaders laughed when asked what they thought about the possibility of Chinese interference from local temples like theirs.

Wu Hui-shen, the temple’s advisor, explained that its chief god, Wu Xian, was brought to Taiwan from China 300 years ago.

To connect with the roots of their religion, the temple participated in cultural exchange forums with other Wu Xian organizations in China, but said its temple does not support any political issue or particular party.

“We have freedom of speech and freedom of religion in Taiwan,” she said. “Temples should not be for any party.”