Photo :Tai Ji Men visited New York in 2000, and was praised as “International Ambassador of Goodwill and Peace.”
September 21,2021
Steadfast in Faith and the Truth
Awaken All Citizens’ Awareness and their Love for Taiwan
Human rights is an international universal value, but who could believe that even citizens of democratic countries would encounter religious persecution? The International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit 2021, the largest and most important religious freedom event of the year, took place in Washington D.C. The 25-year-long Tai Ji Men case took all participants at the conference by surprise. They were shocked to learn that Taiwan, which is a beacon of democracy in Asia, is involved in imposing illegal tax and religious persecution. “We believe the governments’ role is to protect that innate right of a person to choose their own future course for their soul,” stated Ambassador Brownback, the former U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom. Currently, the promotion of "International Love and Peace" is far-reaching. In response to the “International Day of Democracy” and the “International Love and Peace Day” on September 15, a number of forums were held in Taiwan and internationally. A series of online programs introducing the campaigns of the U.S. tour named "Historical Footprints of Love and Peace" will follow. The grand finale of the event will be the "Blessing Ceremony for Love, Peace and Conscience," which will take place on September 21 to commemorate the United Nations International Day of Peace.
Enlightenment from the International Peace Goodwill Ambassador
Seattle Seafair Torchlight Parade is one of the top 10 parades in the United States. At its 50th anniversary in 1999, 144 organizations were invited to join the parade, and Tai Ji Men was the first group to be approved to participate in the parade. The governor of Washington, Mr. Gary Locke; the mayor of Seattle, Mr. Paul Schell; the president of the United States, Mr. Bill Clinton; as well as the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan all sent Tai Ji Men welcome letters. The Tai Ji Men cultural goodwill group, consisting of 1,200 people, traveled to Seattle by 3 airplanes and 2 charter flights, was the largest-scale cultural goodwill group in the history of Taiwan.
On July 31, the day of the parade, “Tai Ji Men: Tai Ji Formation” was the largest and the most spectacular procession in the 50-year history of Seafair Torchlight Parade. Over 400,000 visitors along the parade route shouted, “I love Taiwan” and “I love Tai Ji Men.” During the 5-minute exclusive live broadcast of KIRO-TV (Channel 7), hundreds of millions of audiences around the world felt the passion and vitality from Taiwan. At the “San Francisco 4th International Wushu Festival” held on the following day, 1st August, Tai Ji Men's performances in San Francisco's Chinatown and the Union Square created another sensation. The Mayor Brown of the City of San Francisco and Mr. William Chuang, the chairman of World Federation of Traditional Chinese Sports, presented Tai Ji Men with a certificate of honor. Mayor Brown said the “Tai Ji Men demonstrates the profoundness of Chinese culture. Your talent was revealed without reservation and in an orderly manner through the performance of Tai Ji Men. There is so much we can learn.”
Tai Ji Men Zhang-Men-Ren, Dr. Hong Tao-Tzu delivered a speech entitled “A World of One Heart, A Well-spring of Happiness”. In his speech, Dr. Hong mentioned, “We have chosen the United States as our first stop. We also hope that those of different beliefs and races, both rich and poor will share with us our happiness.” It marked the embarkation on a journey of peaceful cultural exchanges on five continents, which has won international friendship and praises from overseas Chinese communities. Washington D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams of the District of Columbia proclaimed March 22, 2000 as the “Tai Ji Men Academy Day” in Washington D.C. and praised Tai Ji Men as “International Ambassador of Goodwill and Peace.” Mayor Harris of the City and County of Honolulu proclaimed September 16th, 2001 as “Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy and Dr. Hong Tao-Tze Day.” Over the past fifty years, Tai Ji Men shifu and dizi have self-funded trips to 101 nations, and conducted more than 3,000 cultural performances to promote Taiwan to the world.
How has Taiwan treated the internationally renowned Tai Ji Men? It has generated a lot of discussion around the world. Eric Roux, chairperson of the European Interreligious Forum for Religious Freedom, called Taiwan “one of the great democracies in the world,” which makes it even less understandable how dishonest civil servants were allowed to persecute Tai Ji Men. Injustices in democratic countries, Roux said, are worse than those occurring in totalitarian regimes, because they may lower the standards of democracy in the entire world.
Photo :In the Seattle SEAFAIR Torchlight Parade in 1999, hundreds of millions of audiences around the world felt the passion and vitality from Taiwan.
Call for Justice on the East and West Coasts of the United States
The Chinese community in the United States should support the vindication of false cases.
In August of last year, a terrible international event of human rights persecution occurred in Taiwan. The Supreme Court ruled Tai Ji Men not guilty of tax evasion yet, its land was forcibly auctioned and nationalized by the National Taxation Bureau and the Administrative Enforcement Agency. To date, no corrective steps have been taken, which provoked outrage among the overseas Chinese communities. Tai Ji Men members from around the world have been demonstrating in major cities. In July 2021, a peaceful protest was staged in front of the United States Capitol Hill. Several rallies and demonstrations took place in August and September in Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as Honolulu and New York, with local media coverage. In particular, Minister of the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) Tong Chun-yuan, who was on his first visit to the United States after taking office, felt the OCAC’s sentiment on the Tai Ji Men case. On August 30, Mr. Chun-yuan Tong accepted the petition letter from the Tai Ji Men - Los Angeles members at the OCAC office in Los Angeles. On September 4, Minister Tong met with members of theTai Ji Men in San Francisco and accepted another petition letter. Minister Tong stated that on his return to Taiwan, he will forward the matter to the Ministry of Justice.
Tai Ji Men overseas members are urging the Taiwan government to ask the National Taxation Bureau to revoke the tax bill of 1992 in compliance with Section 117 of the Administrative Procedure Act, and to return the illegally auctioned land. Tai Ji Men members will continue to raise their voices in the international community to push the Taiwan government to vindicate the case as soon as possible and urge the NTB to comply with international human rights conventions, domestic laws, and court decisions.
On September 3, 2021, a group of Tai Ji Men members protested in front of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Honolulu, and delivered a petition letter to Tseng Yong-Kwang, the Office's director-general. They were received by Director Joffrey Han of the Office, on Tseng’s behalf. Tai Ji Men member Judy Chen said, "The fabricated and unlawful Tai Ji Men case is not an isolated one. There are many cases of unjust taxation in Taiwan. We love Taiwan very much. That's why we are here, protesting for taxpayer rights not only for Tai Ji Men but also for all people in Taiwan. We are hoping that the director-general will assist us in getting our message to President Tsai so that she and those in power in Taiwan will act with conscience, love the people, and serve the public. We hope they will quickly revoke the illegal tax bills and return the illegally confiscated land and justice to Tai Ji Men."
Tai Ji Men has been involved in cultural exchanges and has taken part in many events organized by the Overseas Community Affairs Council. Mr. Chen Chien-jen, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, presented the Zhang Men Ren of Tai Ji Men and his dizi with a certificate of gratitude in February 2000 for their participation in the Seattle International Ocean Festival, which promoted Chinese culture and national diplomacy. Tai Ji Men has been invited to participate in the Double Ten National Day Performance ten times, twice in the "Four Seas One Heart Gala," and many overseas Chinese have been invited to visit Tai Ji Men when they return to Taiwan to celebrate the National Day. Chairman Chiao Jen-ho of the Overseas Community Affairs Council in 1998, Chairman Chang Fu-mei of the Overseas Community Affairs Council in 2000, and Chairman Wu Ying-yih of the Overseas Community Affairs Council in 2012 all presented awards or certificates of appreciation to Tai Ji Men for their heartfelt dedication to the overseas Chinese community.
Photo:On September 4, Minister of the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) Tong Chun-yuan, was in the San Francisco Bay Area to receive another petition from Tai Ji Men members.
Vital Evidence Revealed
European and American Experts Disclose the Administrative Violence in Taiwan
The Associated Press reported on September 2 that a seminar was held on the theme of "Administrative Violence and the Tai Ji Men Case," reflecting the United Nations' " The International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.” These four successive multinational online conferences covering experts and victims from Europe, the United States, and Taiwan. A significant video showing a tax collector colluding with an unscrupulous prosecutor to commit perjury was exposed in particular, shocking the public.
Konrad Swenninger, founder of the NGO Soteria International, introduced this shocking video. At the end of his terminal cancer life, the late tax collector Yueh-sheng Shih was interviewed in order to tell the truth about the investigation he was forced to comply with. Prosecutor Hou Kuan-jen pressed him to testify against Tai Ji Men. The main evidence that the prosecutor submitted to indict Tai Ji Men was the testimony by the tax collector Yueh-sheng Shih. Shih said in the video that Hou Kuan-jen is the lead ‘director’ of Tai Ji Men case, and calling him to testify is merely presented for show. In his opinion, taxation should be supported by evidence, and in the Tai Ji Men case, no clear explanation or evidence was provided for the calculation of the taxes. However, an officer of the Bureau of Investigation insisted that Shih did as he was told.
"It is a fundamental principle of justice to correct mistakes." Massimo Introvigne, editor-in-chief of Bitter Winter and scholars of Center for Studies on New Religious (CESNUR), noted the significance of tax bureaucrat’s Yueh-sheng Shih retrospective testimony, which proves once and for all that what happened was not a mistake but the result of a conspiracy. It would be incredible if this would be regarded as not enough to rectify the Tai Ji Men case, Introvigne said.
The Action Alliance to Redress 1219, the Center for Studies on New Religious (CESNUR), and Human Rights Without Borders co-organized the event series. Dr. Hong, the Zhang-men-ren of Tai Ji Men, delivered a speech titled "Safeguarding Freedom of Religion or Belief with Love and Conscience," emphasizing the importance of human rights and conscience. " For those who can uphold their faith and belief, who will not compromise with any force of evil, and who will protect basic human dignity, safeguard their conscience, and defend human rights with love and conscience, are practitioners of self-betterment that can tell right from wrong, stand tall, and are brave and fearless!" Dr. Hong said.
Katrina Lantos Swett, president of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, and former chair of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), stated many religious freedom experts throughout the world have condemned such administrative religious persecution as a result of a long-term attack on Tai Ji Men by a few bureaucratic dictatorships in Taiwan's tax agencies.
Thierry Valle, President of the Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience (CAP LC), announced that they filed a written declaration on the Tai Ji Men case and other issues to the United Nations Human Rights Council's 47th session, which was issued on June 21, 2021, denouncing the use of taxation as a weapon of discrimination against religious minority groups in many countries.
"This situation should never have arisen in the first place; it could have been resolved with a single stroke of a pen.” Kenneth A. Jacobsen, law professor at Temple University in Philadelphia and former adviser to President Bill Clinton who has studied the Tai Ji Men case for years, has urged the president and others in power in Taiwan to do the right thing and rectify this egregious case of wrongdoing "The Taiwanese government, in my opinion, should do so right now.
Willy Fautré, director and co-Founder of Human Rights Without Frontiers in Brussels, stated that some scholars believe the Tai Ji Men case was fabricated because National Taxation Bureau and Administrative Enforcement Agency officials expected to obtain lucrative bonuses after the auction.
Rogue bureaucrats damage Taiwan's image, Freedom of belief cannot be violated
A video of the recent protests by American dizis of Tai Ji Men in Washington, D.C. was shown in the webinar “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief”. According to AP news’s report, Tai Ji Men is a spiritual movement and has academies in Taiwan and the United States. In democratic Taiwan, Tai Ji Men was persecuted by means of prosecution on tax evasion. Although the Supreme Criminal Courts in Taiwan had ruled that Tai Ji Men had committed no crimes and was not guilty of tax evasion in 2007, the rogue bureaucrats continued to issue illegal tax bills. In 2020, they even auctioned the land belonging to Tai Ji Men illegally and confiscated it into state-own properties.
Hans Noot, president of the Gerard Noodt Foundation for Freedom of Religion or Belief in the Netherlands, noted that the actions of the rogue bureaucrats who violated Tai Ji Men’s human rights did not bring any benefit to the government or the citizens of Taiwan. On the contrary, they seriously damaged the international image of Taiwan, as not only freedom of religion but also freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of conscience were repeatedly infringed in the Tai Ji Men case.
The Venerable Ming Kuang, abbot of the Buddhist Haiming Temple, and chairman of the Conference of Religions of the Republic of China (Taiwan), mentioned the high moral responsibilities of those serving the government. Buddhism teaches that “there is great merit in correcting one’s mistakes,” he noted, but it seems those bureaucrats who acted against Tai Ji Men in Taiwan never learned the lesson. The abbot said he has participated in many events about the Tai Ji Men case, not only out of his respect for Dr. Hong and Tai Ji Men, but also because what happened to them endangers religious freedom for all believers.
Professor Chang Chia-Lin from Taipei’s Aletheia University mentioned that Tai Ji Men case is the worst example in Taiwan’s history, of how principles of freedom of religion or belief were not respected at different levels of the government and state bureaucracy. It is also a cause of “national embarrassment” for Taiwan, he concluded.
Dr. Huang Chun-Chieh, professor at the Department of Financial and Economic Law at National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan, said that the action of auctioning off the land of Tai Ji Men illegally and then nationalizing it is not simply a violation of property rights, but a violation of cultural and religious beliefs. He called on international experts to advise Taiwan's government agencies to regard this incident as a violation of universal value of human rights.
Professor Lin Jun-Lin, chairman of the Chinese Orthodox Alliance, called on the government to allow complete freedom of religious belief, which will help to calm the people. The Tai Ji Men case is a matter relevant to all citizens, hence, the justice for Tai Ji Men is justice for all.
Former legislator Kang Shi-Ru, reported how, as a convener of the Finance Committee in the Legislative Yuan (i.e., Taiwan’s Parliament), he carefully studied the Tai Ji Men case, and concluded that “unbelievable” violations of law had been committed by rogue bureaucrats who had hijacked the government. Kang added that the Control Yuan and Legislative Yuan, which are now emphasizing human rights, are not credible if they do not act decisively to solve the Tai Ji Men case.
Photo:human rights and religious liberty experts, scholars and Tai Ji Men Dizis from different countries participate the webinar “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief”.
Matthew Chen, a 20-year-old dizi and a student at Boston’s Northwestern University, also explained the health benefits of practicing qigong in the Tai Ji Men Academy. He told how in the U.S. he discovered philosopher Henry David Thoreau, who inspired many with his theories of civil disobedience, including to unjust conducts of tax officers. He mentioned that many Taiwanese friends who came to study in the U.S. do not plan to return to Taiwan, and suggested this might have something to do with the oppressive and corrupt tax system prevailing there.
Rosita Šorytė, a member of the Scientific Committee of FOB (European Federation for Freedom of Belief) and associate editor of Bitter Winter, mentioned the fact that young people start leaving the country without plans to return is a bad omen for Taiwan. We just saw in Afghanistan, Šorytė said, what happens when young people lose hope in their country, and would not make sacrifices to defend it. It is unconceivable, Šorytė said, that Taiwanese politicians are, until now, still unable to comprehend the damage to Taiwan’s reputation caused by the Tai Ji Men case, which in many other countries would have been concluded long ago through a political solution imposed by the government to the reluctant bureaucrats and tax officers.
Photo:People protested in front of the Control Yuan and strongly appealed for the abolition of the bonus.