China’s Religious United Front and its Passive Resistance in Taiwan

Abstract

This article uses the 2017 Meizhou Mazu’s visit to Taiwan as a case study to demonstrate how Religious United Front operated in the civil religious exchange between Taiwan and China, and how various actors—including event organisers, local politicians, local temple managers and devotees—acted differently. Considering the disproportionality in the amount of resources that the Taiwanese and Chinese governments inject in the cultural battle, this article offers the Taiwanese government several tactics to overcome the challenge.