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One of China's most famous monks, who counts some of the country's senior figures among his followers, is on the run after being exposed as a fraud.
Chinese government officials said that "Supreme Master" Li Yi, a 41-year-old Taoist monk, had faked a long list of improbable super powers. Mr Li had claimed that he could sit cross-legged under water for more than two hours because of his Taoist abilities and that he could withstand 220 volts of electricity circulating through his body.
Officials at the state religious authority in the city of Chongqing suggested he was in fact sitting inside a sealed box underwater, with enough air inside to last for the duration of the performance. Mr Li used his fame to sell health and philosophy programmes, to his 30,000 followers at the Shaolong Taoist Temple near Chongqing, which cost up to 9,000 yuan (€1,078) a week. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
Irish Independent
