On 14 September 2026, a five-member New Zealand business delegation attending the 2026 Joint Conference of the Taiwan–New Zealand & New Zealand–Taiwan Business Councils visited Fo Guang Shan Taipei Vihara, Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA), Beautiful Life Television (BLTV), and the Merit Times. The delegation was led by New Zealand Taiwan Business Council (NZTBC) President Chris TSE and accompanied by Abbess Manshin of FGS New Zealand.
The delegation was warmly received by Abbess Manchien of Fo Guang Shan Taipei Vihara and Venerable ChuehPei, Secretary-General of BLIA. Guests included Richard LEE, CEO of Olive Black; Craig Brown, Founder of Herbivore; Lintao YU, Founder of Orato AI Limited; celebrity chef and television host Mark Southan; and Joyce HUANG of the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association.
Following a light offering at the Main Shrine, the delegation toured the Temple and learned about more than 20 Fo Guang Shan organisations based in the building. These include BLIA, BLTV, the Merit Times, Fo Guang Shan Cultural Institute, and Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery Taipei, all contributing to the promotion of virtue values and Fo Guang Shan’s four major objectives of culture, education, charity and cultivation.
At the BLIA headquarters on the eighth floor, the guests were accompanied by BLIA Deputy Secretary-General Venerable ChuehDuo. Through photographs of various activities, they learned about the diverse initiatives of Humanistic Buddhism, including annual Buddhist weddings, Chan and Pure Land cultivation, youth groups, scout groups and reading clubs.
Abbess Manshin noted that the business leaders were in Taiwan from 10 to 15 September to attend the 2026 Taiwan–New Zealand Joint Business Council Conference. Among them, Lintao YU is a prominent technology entrepreneur representing collaboration between Taiwan and New Zealand in artificial intelligence and language technology. During the conference, he presented the core technology of his system, which provides three key functions which are real-time translation, audio transcription and text generation, and supports more than 70 languages.
Richard LEE, whose company produces world-champion olive oil, shared that attending the conference and visiting the Temple provided an opportunity to experience different aspects of Taiwan within a short period of time and to learn more about vegetarian cuisine in Taiwan.
Craig Brown, Founder of a premium plant-based butter start-up, was visiting Taiwan for the second time. He was impressed by Taiwan’s clean environment, convenience and friendly people. He also expressed interest in future business cooperation.
Mark Southan shared that he had visited Taiwan six times and discovered something new on every visit. He said he greatly enjoys Taipei and the opportunity to experience its diverse food culture, while also reflecting on the growing global prominence of vegetarian and vegan cuisine.
