China to regulate Buddhist, Taoist temples

BEIJING - China's religious affairs authorities will put a list of officially approved Buddhist and Taoist temples online next year to fight scam.

A growing number of nonreligious venues are employing fake Buddhist and Taoist monks to seek donations and even swindle money from visitors, said Wang Zuo'an, director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), at a Tuesday meeting.

According to Wang, some officially approved temples were also found to have lured or forced visitors to buy overpriced incense.

In October 2012, nine departments including the SARA jointly released a document on dealing with misconduct in Buddhist and Taoist temples, ahead of a spate of inspections.

As part of a pilot program, temples that have been okayed during the inspections will be granted official licenses for operation and their names will be made available online.

Wang said the SARA will guide licensed temples to conduct religious activities within the scope prescribed by law.