Does Religious Tolerance Remain A Distant Dream In Taiwan?
(ANALYSIS) Taiwan insists to remain secular and its constitution allows free exercise and equal treatment under the law of all religions — except as necessary for reasons of protecting the freedoms of others, imminent danger, social order or public welfare. However, there has been a growing debate over religious freedom and religious tolerance in this southeast Asian country of 23 million.
Taiwan’s international rating on freedom of religion is undisputedly very high as the 2020 Freedom of Thought Report published by Humanists International ranked it at No. 1. The 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, published by the U.S. Department of State, also noted Taiwan’s constitutional protection of the freedom of religion as well as the diversity of religious beliefs, but questions are asked about how freely can one practice their religion, especially migrants.
Despite 700,000 migrant population including 250,000 Vietnamese, who are largely Buddhists, followed by 240,000 Indonesians, who are predominantly Muslims and 149,000 Filipinos, who are mostly Catholics, migrant workers do not enjoy opportunities to worship like local employees.
The U.S. Department of State notes that religious freedom for migrant workers, working as caregivers and household workers, who are not included under Labor Standards Act, are often denied a day off to practice their religion by attending religious services.
Owing to this lack of safeguards, there were occasional cases where employers or labor brokers restricted their foreign workers from freely participating in religious services. Additionally, there have been instances of Muslims being forced to consume pork, a practice that goes against Islamic principles.
Additionally, Tibetan Buddhist monks reported that they face difficulties obtaining resident visas for religious work. But Taiwan insists that it has been actively promoting religious freedom through legislative engagement and international summits hosted with civil society and religious groups.
Various religious groups have urged authorities to better promote subsidized respite care and inform employers about migrant domestic workers’ rights, particularly the importance of respecting their religious practices.
Religious diversity
A 2019 survey conducted by Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s government-supported research institution, reported that nearly half of the respondents (49.3 percent) practiced traditional folk religions while Buddhism was followed by 14 percent of the population, and 12.4 percent identified as Taoists. Around 13.2 percent stated they had no religious beliefs.
Smaller religious groups included Protestants at 5.5 percent, followers of Yiguandao at 2.1 percent and Catholics at 1.3 percent. As of 2022, there were approximately 17,800 registered religious groups, including 1,700 religious foundations, 11,800 temples and 4,300 religious social groups, representing more than 22 religions.
A 2024 Pew Research survey stated that two-thirds of Taiwanese feel a “personal connection” to at least one tradition besides their own. While only four percent of Taiwanese adults identified themselves as followers of local or Indigenous religions, 53 percent stated that they felt a personal connection to those ways of life.
But there is a growing dissatisfaction among certain religious groups, who believe their role in people’s lives is limited. There is a growing push from several religious groups to give due significance to religion in education, and social life.
Until recently, the Ministry of Education didn’t permit the teaching of courses on religion. Taiwan’s first Department of Religious Studies. National Chengchi University’s Graduate Institute of Religious Studies, established in 2000, remains the only department of its kind at a public university in Taiwan, and it doesn’t offer an undergraduate program. But now, different religious groups have established their own degree-granting institutions.
Taiwanese religious groups are also playing a role in preparing ordinary citizens for self-defense. While they have been fostering community resilience for decades, they are preparing themselves to be the strongest pillars of Taiwan’s self-defense in the event of war with China.
Chinese interference in temples
Many of the refugees who have fled to Taiwan from China came because of religious persecution, and they brought their religions with them. The Taiwanese government often argues that there is Chinese interference in Taiwanese religious affairs through the use of religious groups for political purposes.
Over the past decade, the Taiwanese government accused China of engaging in propaganda and influence campaigns, specifically aimed at Taiwanese religious groups and believers, as part of a wider strategy to infiltrate Taiwanese society.
An online hate campaign has been running by ordinary citizens against the participants of “Ba-Jia-Jiou,” a ceremony associated with a variety of Taiwan’s dominant folk religion or Three Teachings temples, who dress up as ‘eight generals’ to perform exorcism of evil spirits for a variety of different deities they worship.
These participants are often inaccurately portrayed as uneducated individuals from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, with tendencies toward alcohol or drug abuse. They are also frequently suggested or outright assumed to be criminals or gang members linked to organized crime.
In 2020, Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture rejected false stereotypes about temples and encouraged the public to show greater respect and openness toward religious workers and their contributions.
But there is no room for legal action against the hate campaigner since Taiwan does not have any hate speech law. Perhaps, Taiwan needs to learn to tackle the underlying tensions associated with its widely celebrated religious diversity to ensure religious tolerance among all.
Sonia Sarkar is a journalist based in India. She writes on conflict, religion, politics, health and gender rights from Southeast Asia. Her work has appeared in a range of international publications, including the South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asia and Al Jazeera.