Opinions

By Kenneth A. Jacobsen, Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, USA

ABSTRACT: Tai Ji Men, a spiritual school in Taiwan that teaches Qigong based on ancient Taoist traditions, was one of the movements targeted in a local crackdown against “cults” in 1996. Although the school and its founder, Dr. Hong Tao-tze, were eventually declared innocent of all charges, as a byproduct of these events a tax case has continued for the next twenty-four years. The highest jurisdictions in Taiwan concluded that there had been no tax evasion. However, Taiwan’s National Taxation Bureau has maintained its (illegal) tax bill for one year, 1992, and based on this, in 2020, has seized and auctioned properties of Dr Hong. The article surveys the main political and legal institutions in Taiwan and the Tai Ji Men case, concluding that what happened is a serious blow to Taiwan’s image as a Constitutional democracy.

Click to read the full paper: Abrogating the Rule of Law: The Tai Ji Men Tax Case in Taiwan

By Dr. Massimo Introvigne, Founder and the managing director of the Center for
Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), Italy

The Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy is a spiritual menpai (a notion similar to a
“school”) founded in Taiwan by Dr. Hong Tao-Tze in 1966, which teaches Qi
Gong, based on the ancient philosophy of Daoism, and spiritual cultivation. Tai Ji
Men prefers to be called a “spiritual” rather than a “religious” organization. It does
not try to convert believers of other faiths to Daoism, and in fact its members come
from all faiths. It is a menpai, a school of Qi Gong, martial arts, philosophy of yin
and yang, and self-cultivation.

Click to read the full paper: Tai Ji Men Report