Taiwan: Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is investigating reports that members of China’s Fumei Temple conducted religious activities in Taiwan without the approval of Taiwan’s government, according to MAC head Chiu Chui-cheng (???).

According to Focus Taiwan, Chiu stated that the group may have sought to evade Taiwan’s regulatory procedures or filed a false application, and that Taiwan’s authorities are looking into the case. “There is no application on record for Fumei Temple (???) to come to Taiwan to conduct religious exchanges,” Chiu informed reporters before a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee.

The investigation follows a report by Taiwanese newspaper the Liberty Times, which stated that the temple delegation, claiming to be an ancestral shrine from Quanzhou, a city in China’s Fujian province, visited several Taiwanese temples and organizations, including the Hsiao clan association (?????). The report also noted that the group intended to participate in the Baishatun Mazu pilgrimage, an annual religious procession between the Taiwanese counties of Miaoli and Yunlin.