Scientology around the world is in broad retreat, but to be in Taiwan you would never know that. In an area slightly smaller than the combined size of Delaware and Maryland, with a total population of 23.4 millionroughly the same as that of the New York metropolitan areaTaiwan has 15 Scientology missions and churches. Per capita, its one of the most Scientology-friendly countries on earth. The island serves as a major source of donations and new members for the church, which has capitalized on L. Ron Hubbards early suggestions that he was a new Buddha. In a sign of Taiwans importance to the church, Scientology chief David Miscavige also attended the 2013 Kaohsiung reopening of the hotel as a Scientology megachurch.
According to documents described as leaks from Scientology's main database of internal statistics and published by Mike Rinder, a high-ranking defector, Taiwanese Scientology missions were three of the top 10 cumulative fundraisers for the church in 2014. In June 2015, according to data published on the Scientology-watching blog Sec-Check, the Taipei mission tied for first among Scientology churches around the world for weekly stats reflecting sales of books, hours of counseling, and new recruits. (Asked about these materials, a Scientology spokesperson described them as stolen documents. The church said Rinder was dismissed from his position and expelled because of his dishonesty.)
Taiwanese who want to understand outside perspectives on Scientology face a basic obstacle: Most critical articles on the church, and most forums where ex-Scientologists offer advice to people leaving the church, are in English.
Taiwans own media, while boisterously independent compared to mainland Chinas, have shied from negative coverage of the church. While gossip-friendly newspapers have reported briefly on matters related to the divorce of celebrity Scientologist Tom Cruise, I could find few that had written on the groups expansion on Taiwans shores. One of the few Chinese-language blogs that publishes critical items on Scientology is run by Anita Hsu, the Taiwanese defector.
As subtitled versions of the documentary Going Clear appear online, Scientology may gradually lose momentum in Taiwan, but Yang is not optimistic. In Taiwan, at least, the groups affiliated organizationthe anti-drug program Narconon, the Citizens Commission for Human Rights (an anti-psychiatry organization which claims to expose the field as an industry of death), and the Youth for Human Rights program, which promotes Hubbard writings alongside the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rightscontinue to reach students, receive positive media coverage, and hold events with the governments support, including meetings with the former president.
