One of Taiwan's leading religious figures has broken with custom by coming out in favour of the opposition candidate in the island's closely fought presidential election.
Wei Chueh, one of four main Buddhist masters on the island, called on his followers to back Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Lien Chan and his vice-presidential running mate James Soong at the March 20 poll.
Buddhism and Taoism are the dominant faiths on the island with politicians often seen at temples during campaigning, but religious leaders have traditionally declined to openly back any candidates.
Wei Chueh led 3,000 of his followers in chanting "Lien-Soong get elected" when the pair joined a ceremony at the Chung Tai Temple in Nantou, central Taiwan, on Tuesday.
Supporters claim that Wei Chueh has at least one million followers in Taiwan and his comments are likely to influence the way they vote on March 20. About a quarter of Taiwan's 23 million population describe themselves as Buddhists.
"Only voting for Lien Chan and Soong Chu-yu (James Soong) can Taiwan be saved," Wei Chueh told his followers.
He also urged them to boycott a referendum called by President Chen Shui-bian which asks voters to back government moves towards peace talks with China and to build up its military defences against Chinese missiles directed at the island.
The two sides have been ruled separately since 1949 when communists drove KMT forces from the mainland at the end of a civil war. China has maintained its claim to the island.
"The referendum has become an international joke. Look what Chen Shui-bian has done to our country," he said.
Wei Chueh said monks should normally devote themselves to Buddhist learning and preaching, but said worsening social problems had encouraged him to speak out.
Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said the move was not a surprise, claiming Wei Chueh had backed Lien at the last election in 2000 when he finished a distant third behind Chen and Soong, then running as an independent after a split within KMT ranks.
"There should be a proper distance between politics and religion. Monks and nuns are citizens who are entitled to their opinions but society doesn't expect them to overdo it," said Cheng Wen-tsang, a DPP spokesman.
Three other noted Buddhist leaders in Taiwan -- Master Hsing Yun, Master Cheng Yen and Master Sheng Yen -- have remained neutral, as they did during the first two democratically run presidential elections on the island in 1996 and 2000.
Some leaders of the island's biggest religion, Taoism, which is followed by about 34 per cent of the population, have lobbied for Chen and arranged visits to temples and meetings with followers, according to the China Times.