TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan has not heard any news about three elderly members of a religious group detained in China, Straits Exchange Foundation Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) confirmed Friday.

The three followers of the Yiguandao (一貫道) movement usually read religious texts inside homes and did not involve themselves in political activities, according to Luo. The missing Taiwanese were aged over 70 and 80, per CNA.

The SEF had tried to obtain information about their fate, but China had not released any news, Luo said. The public paid attention to cross-strait exchanges but also needed to be reminded about the case of the three religious members, he added.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the trio had been detained in Guangdong Province in October in connection to laws regarding damaging public order, the Liberty Times reported. The three Taiwanese, surnamed Chou (周), Chiang (江), and Hsieh (謝), have been assigned attorneys, according to TAO.

Luo asked Taipei City Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) to relay concern about the fate of the three elderly detainees to Chinese attendants at next week’s Taipei-Shanghai Forum. It is important that their relatives are informed about their condition, and know they will be allowed to return home safely, Luo said.

Wikipedia calls Yiguandao a Chinese salvationist religious sect from China’s Shandong Province in the late 19th century.