China has been seeking to influence Taiwanese elections using its ties with local Matsu (媽祖) temples, academics said yesterday as they shared the results of their research published in Foreign Policy Analysis.

Liu Yu-hsi (劉裕皙), one of the authors of “In the Name of Mazu: The Use of Religion by China to Intervene in Taiwanese Elections,” said the international community has been increasingly aware of Russian and Chinese attempts to intervene in foreign elections through religion.

At a forum hosted by the Democratic Progressive Party, the associate professor at Shih Hsin University said that the Chinese Communist Party has sought to use its agents to influence small and medium-sized enterprises, those with low to middle incomes, and residents in central and southern Taiwan.