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Could sea goddess Mazu connect atheist mainland China with believer Taiwan?

At the ‘frontline’ of US-China conflict, the Philippines prepares for war

Beijing’s pilot zone for economic integration with Taiwan running out of steam

Taiwan proposes outlawing political party devoted to unification with mainland China

Taiwan

Beijing’s test bed for Taiwan integration

News

China

Politics

Why mainland China’s Taiwan integration experiment in Fujian is starting to fizzle

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Beijing invests billions into luring Taiwanese to Fujian’s Pingtan county, but it has yet to translate into political loyalty.


What happened when mainland China recruited Taiwanese for governance

The efforts started more than a decade ago to integrate Taiwanese into the mainland’s economy, society, and culture but there were bumps along the way.


Illustration: Henry Wong

A once-bustling duty-free market in Pingtan, previously home to over 300 Taiwanese vendors selling products from the island. Photo: SCMP/Amber Wang

By 2022 there were over 3,000 people and nearly 1,300 enterprises from Taiwan in Pingtan, Fujian, but the cross-strait beacon is dimming.


 Illustration: Henry Wong

The Mazu temple on Meizhou, mainland China’s Fujian province, welcomes visitors from temples dedicated to the goddess in Taiwan. Photo: Amber Wang/SCMP

A statue of the sea goddess Mazu on Meizhou Island in Fujian province, southeastern China. Photo: Xinhua

A ceremony to welcome Mazu statues from across the world back to the sea goddess’ place of origin on Meizhou Island in Fujian province, in April 2024. Photo: Getty Images

Pilgrims visit one of the many Mazu temples in Taiwan, where the sea goddess is worshipped by two-thirds of the population. Photo: Shutterstock

Zheng Chenggong, a Ming dynasty general who expelled Dutch colonialists from Taiwan in 1661, is remembered in the Taiwanese city of Tainan. Photo: SCMP

Taipei is suspicious of Beijing’s efforts to attract devotees of the goddess to her mother temple but 200,000 Taiwanese a year make the trip.


Fujian province has become a test bed for mainland China’s push for economic, social and political integration with Taiwan. In a four-part, on-the-ground series, we examine the 15-year integration drive in Fujian’s Pingtan county, and more.


Series