"Taiwanese Teacher Detained in China for 3 Months... Suspected to Be Religion-Related"

It has been claimed that a Taiwanese teacher who has lived in China for over 10 years has been held in detention for three months, reportedly due to reasons presumed to be related to religious activities.

According to Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) on the 7th, Luo Wen-jia, secretary-general of Taiwan's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), stated during a briefing that a Taiwanese teacher working in China has been detained since last May.

Citing privacy protection for the individual, Secretary-General Luo did not disclose specific identity details or the circumstances of the case, but noted that the teacher had resided in China for more than a decade.

The teacher's family reported the detention to the SEF on June 1, and while the SEF contacted its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), it has not received a response so far, Luo said.

According to information gathered by the SEF through other channels, the detained teacher has practiced Yiguandao, a folk religious sect in China, raising the possibility that the detention is linked to religious beliefs or activities.

Two other Taiwanese individuals were reportedly taken away by Chinese public security officers along with the teacher at the time, but they have since been released.

Luo did not elaborate on the relationship between those individuals and the detained teacher.

This incident comes to light as Taiwanese authorities have repeatedly issued warnings to their citizens regarding the risks of visiting China.

According to Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the body handling mainland China affairs, 154 Taiwanese citizens were reported missing in China from January 1, 2024, to the 22nd of last month, while 32 were detained for investigation and 216 were taken into custody.

Among the 216 detained individuals, 134 were linked to fraud cases, 58 to other criminal cases, 23 to religious activities, and 1 to a national security case.

However, the Mainland Affairs Council did not disclose how many of the missing or detained individuals have since been located or released.

Despite the recent deterioration in cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan, visits to China by Taiwanese people are actually on the rise.

According to Taiwan's transportation authorities, 1.85 million Taiwanese people visited China in the first half of this year, representing a 21.5% increase compared to the same period last year.

Taiwanese authorities have consistently emphasized the risks associated with traveling to China, citing cases of detained Taiwanese citizens and heightened surveillance within the country.

The warnings have intensified, particularly after China implemented the Ethnic Unity Progress Promotion Law last month.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.