What We Know of the Mysterious, Secretive Master Zhen-Ru

With this article, I will continue to explore some of the more fascinating details revealed in the book, Canada Under Siege, about the Buddhist monasteries established in PEI.

This article in particular will focus on Master Zhen-Ru, who has been described as the spiritual leader of both the Buddhist monks and nuns on PEI.

In all honesty, I never would have believed that one day I would write an article like this. The stories circulating online about this woman are insane – there is no other way to put it. I imagine that anyone writing about Master Zhen-Ru is put in the awkward position of having to omit a lot of information circulating about her for fear that no reader would believe them.

The challenge for any investigator is making sure they successfully thresh truths from falsehoods in order to build an accurate profile of who this woman is.

With that said, most of the information I present will come from the investigation of Michel Juneau-Katsuya, one of the authors of the book. Listening to Michel present his findings at the Delta hotel a few weeks ago, he strikes me as a highly competent individual. In just a few trips to PEI he seems to have grasped fairly quickly the structure and inner workings of the political circles and how business gets done in this province. He also has an impressive background as a former intelligence officer.

To put it short, I place a high degree of trust in his findings and analysis.

With all that said, let’s finally look at Master Zhen-Ru.

Master Zhen-Ru also goes by other names on the Island. Sometimes she is referred to as Teacher Zhen-Ru; when she first came to the Island she went by Mary Jin. When making land purchases on the Island, she goes by her original Chinese name of Meng Rong Jin.

We pick up her story sometime around 1999 when she was the second person in command of a religious group practicing Zhong Gong in China. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) decided at this time to crack down on certain religious groups they felt were undermining the state and Zhong Gong became a target. The leader of this group fled China and Master Zhen-Ru was arrested.

A few months later she appears inside the Buddhist religious organization Bliss and Wisdom (BW) that has operations in both Taiwan and China. In an incredibly short amount of time, she becomes close to the leader of BW, Master Jih-Chang, and gains his complete trust. How she managed to do this is the source of much speculation. Master Zhen-Ru was essentially labelled as an enemy of the state in a dangerous totalitarian country; and still, despite having no formal training and being a laity member, she experienced a meteoric rise inside BW.

On October 15, 2004 Master Jih-Chang suddenly becomes extremely ill on a trip to China. Master Zhen-Ru is the only person alone with him on his deathbed. On his death, Master Zhen-Ru leaves his room and announces to his followers that he named her his successor. Rumors swirl that the Master was poisoned, but nothing is proved conclusively.

In the year 2007, Master Zhen-Ru makes what is believed to be her first appearance on the Island as Mary Jin. She attempts to immigrate to PEI through the now infamous Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The immigration consultant that worked on her initial application recalls how Master Zhen-Ru was followed by an SUV with four body guards inside all wearing ear pieces. In her interview, Master Zhen-Ru presented herself as an entrepreneur in the lamp business. No mention was made of her leadership position inside BW.

Already not off to a good start as far as openness and honesty is concerned.

In 2009 she officially comes to the Island and purchases a home. Over time the house is renovated and additional buildings are added to the property. Sources who worked on the property describe it as a compound or closer to a bunker: gate, guardhouse, cameras and a new private $2.1 million fiber optic cable. Her personal residence is also described as lavish and closer to a mansion at this point with several monks living with her attending to her needs.

Both of Master Zhen-Ru’s parents are CCP members, her sister, Mandy Jin, has worked as a state broadcaster in China and is believed to have relocated to PEI herself and have landholdings of her own.

Based on the intelligence analysis Michel has conducted along with his colleagues, he “concludes with confidence that Zhen-Ru is operating under the influence or direction of the United Front Work Department – a key agency of the Chinese Communist Party…”

Again, I trust Michel’s opinion.

I don’t have a “smoking gun” in the form of a video of Master Zhen-Ru taking the secret blood oath swearing allegiance to the CCP; but when I take Michel’s opinion into account and combine it with evidence of money laundering, quick land acquisitions, and an aggressive immigration policy aimed at attracting Chinese immigrants, it becomes obvious Master Zhen-Ru is a key piece in a broader strategy of the CCP to influence PEI.

In the next article, we will explore what some of the possible end goals are for the CCP in PEI and how exactly they plan to achieve them.