They spoke from their own national perspectives followed by a Q&A session. The webinar was well attended with around 90 online participants.
There were enthusiastic dialogues in the chat box. Some main inputs collected from the chat box and Q&A sessions included:
- Revitalize the North East Asia churches’ peace network with all ecumenical bodies such as Ecumenical Forum for Korea (EFK) and Japan-Korea platform. Enable a deeper regional vision from the ecumenical perspective.
- Forge solidarity with the global South to avoid choosing between the super powers.
- Bring in voices from the youth in future gatherings. Core Group meeting has taken serious consideration to this suggestion and follow up is already ongoing.
- Concern of the lack of taking a more prophetic stance against the empires by the major/global ecumenical institutions.
- Concern about Chinese Churches from a wide range of backgrounds that today uncritically embrace patriotism, nationalism and the idea of a Great China.
In an immediate webinar follow up meeting he Core Group decided to plan a youth webinar to focus on the concerns in the webinar concerning the geopolitical development in the region. SG member Fanny Chung of the Asia-Pacific WSCF office was invited to coordinate a planning group. The Core Group meeting also decided there should be continuing study on the geopolitical development and the meaning of the “Neo Cold War” concept to the bigger Christian movement or wider ecumenical community? It was suggested that the Theological Reflection Working Group led by Dr. Roderick Hewitt should be involved for deeper analysis and planning of the next webinar.
The SG agreed to form a small editorial committee to prepare an e-publication of the webinar’s contents and outcomes. Rev. Dr. Jooseop Keum agreed to be part of this committee; a chief editor is yet to be designated. As a first step, a short terms of reference document should be prepared to clarify the tasks of the committee. One major task will be to collect the information provided during the webinar’s presentations as completely as possible. The committee is charged with finding additional (wo-)manpower in various organizations that is needed to fulfil this time-consuming work.
The SG identified four major trajectories for the TEF’s work in the following months:
(1) a follow-up youth webinar, (2) an internal SG workshop on the history of relations between the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and Chinese Churches, (3) Strengthen North East Asia ecumenical networking, (4) Engage in a deeper analysis of geopolitics and the concept of a Neo-Cold War by the Theological Reflection Working Group (TRWG).
Purpose of Youth Webinar
Coordinator Fanny Chang explained that the youth webinar will seek to continue the discussion about the geopolitical development in the (North) East Asia region by focusing on the voices from the youth, The preparatory group plans to have a discussion panel consisting of youth representatives from different areas of the region. A speaker from Thailand was already identified; the group is currently looking for youth voices from Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. In addition, the work on a concept paper for the webinar is in progress. The webinar is intended to take place in the first quarter of the year, the temporary date is April 28. Another preparatory meeting will soon decide on further details.
Internal Steering Group workshop on the history of relations between the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and Chinese Churches
The SG decided to organize an internal workshop on the history of relations between the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and Chinese Churches. The workshop will be an initial step to “pave the way” for a future exchange with the China Christian Council (CCC). The renewal of relationships with the Chinese churches and the China Christian Council is one of the TEF’s main objectives (cf. TEF’s Terms of Reference). The TEF will take advantage of this year’s World Council of Churches (WCC) General Assembly as a possible way to reengage the CCC. The insights and outcomes of the internal workshop are intended to inform this kind of “backchannel diplomacy.”
The SG will invite the director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) as special guest to the exploratory workshop. This invitation should not ask the WCC/CCIA to commit to any action, but rather to exchange information and ideas in an informal setting. In this way, the SG hopes to include other ecumenical bodies into the process of “paving the way” right from the beginning. Through his decades-long work on this very issue when he was a staff of the WCC, Victor Hsu would help to facilitate this process.
Reviving North East Asia Ecumenical Networking February 17, 2022
A special meeting of the church leaders were held on February 17 to consider the next step to revitalize an already existing North East Asia forum. Participants included:
Taiwan: Rev. Chen, Hsin Liang, Rev. Sudu Tada (PCT)/ Prof. Victor Hsu, Mrs. Nancy Lin (TEF)
Korea: Rev. Lee, Hong Jung, Rev. Shin, Seung Min, Rev. Hwang Bo Hyun (NCCK)/ Rev. Kim, Bo Hyun, Rev. Chae, Song Hee (PCK)/ Rev. Kim, Chang Ju, Rev. Park, Sung Kook (PROK)/ Dr. Yi, Ki Yo (Hanshin University)
Japan: Rev. Kim, Sung Jae, Mr. Fujimori, Yoshi (NCCJ)/ Rev. Toru, Akiyama, Rev. Michiko Nishinosono (UCCJ)/, Rev. Heo, Baek Ki (KCCJ)
Philippines: Mr. Toquero, Mervin (NCCP)/ Rev. Hernando, Frank (UCCP)
Moderator Rev. Lee Hong Jung delivered opening remarks, saying that “in consideration of today's situation in Northeast Asia, where people's safety and peace are being seriously challenged amid fierce hegemony competition, the role of churches and civil society to build peace is more urgently requested than ever.”
Ms. Nancy Lin said that the PCT took the initiating role to organise this online meeting. Victor Hsu, Dr. Yi Kiho and Rev. Park Sung-Kook responded unanimously that the NEA ecumenical network must be reinforced. Both justice and peace, people’s security in NEA are our common concerns. NEA Churches Forum should network with TEF and Ecumenical Forum on Korea as their desire to strengthen ecumenical influence. There was a consensus on revitalizing the NEA Churches Forum as the regional context requires that the religious community take a more active role in people’s security and peace-building.
Membership
The founding membership of the NEA Churches Forum was composed of the CCA member denominations and NCCs in NE region (Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Philippines). However, different challenges have emerged from when it was founded in 2005. It is necessary to respond to them with a collective Christian perspective beyond the institutional membership of the CCA. The meeting agreed to change the name “Churches’ to Christian” and extend the membership to Christian communities. Moreover:
- NCCP and UCCP were asked to be full members of the NEA CF.
- Membership needs to be extended to the non-CCA member churches like CCJ in Japan.
- The suggestion to include the Pacific churches needs to be carefully discussed as we need to focus our efforts in strengthening the NEA CF.
- CCA and WCC Asia desk need to be included in the discussion of the membership extension.
Further follow-up discussion on the membership and key projects were delegated to a task force team composed of 4 persons: Rev. Fernando (Philippines), Rev. Shin (Korea), Ms. Lin (Taiwan), and Mr. Fujimori (Japanese members will discuss and submit their name later) The TF team will meet at 9 am (Taiwan time) on March 9, and for the time being Rev. Shin will take the role of coordination.
Theological Reflection Working Group (TRWG) and Follow-Up Webinar on Geopolitics.
The SG charged the TRWG with deepening the topic of last year’s webinar. TRWG convener Rev. Dr. Roderick Hewitt was unable to attend the SG meeting. Christopher Ferguson and Rev. Dr. Huang Po-Ho offered to assist to find ways to help move the group’s work forward.
Recent Developments about Taiwan
Transitional Justice Commission
On September 8, the Transitional Justice Commission (TJC) announced its plan to remove the island’s most prominent statue of former leader Chiang Kai-shek, situated inside the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei’s Liberty Square. The 6.3-meter-tall sculpture was completed in 1980, five years after the leader’s death.
Tsai Ing-wen administration established the TJC in 2018 as part of its goal of rectifying injustices committed during Taiwan’s nearly four decades of martial law and authoritarian rule. The commission has already removed 70% of the island’s Chiang Kai-shek statues. However, it argues that the statue and architectural style of the Memorial Hall resemble a temple honoring Chiang, whom it says was an autocratic leader. Furthermore, it called the monument a painful symbol for victims of suppression under Chiang’s rule that is unbefitting of Taiwan’s now democratic system.
The KMT argues that the DPP is using transitional justice as part of a broader campaign to weaken the KMT’s political and financial power. It is particularly aggrieved by the DPP’s confiscation of KMT finances that the DPP regards as “ill-gotten gains” acquired during the period of martial law.
Source:
https://topics.amcham.com.tw/2021/10/taiwan-life-in-brief-october/
Biden affirms ‘rock solid commitment’ to Taiwan
As Taiwan reports a troubling increase in provocative military activity from Beijing, with incursions of Chinese military aircraft into the island’s air defence identification zone hitting record highs, Taiwan’s defence minister warned in early October that the mainland will be fully capable of invading the island by 2025.
Condemning Beijing’s military actions as “coercive” and a threat to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, President Joe Biden said that the US commitment to Taiwan was “rock solid”.
When asked at a CNN town hall if the United States would protect Taiwan if China attacked, Biden responded by saying, “Yes. We have a commitment.”
But the White House quickly walked back the president’s statements, saying they did not signify a departure from the policy of “strategic ambiguity”.
U.S. former Secretary of State, Pompeo, will visit Taiwan the week of February 28 and will be received by Taiwan’s President and other high officials.
Source:
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4330549
EU lawmakers arrive on first visit to Taiwan
The European Parliament’s first delegation to Taiwan in November for discussions on fighting disinformation, with delegation members received by President Tsai Ing-wen.
The 13-person delegation visited Taiwan on a three-day trip.
The delegation includes seven members of the “Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation”: committee president Raphael Glucksmann of France, Andrius Kubilius and Petras Austrevicius of Lithuania, Marketa Gregorova of the Czech Republic, Andreas Schieder of Austria, Georgios Kyrtsos of Greece and Marco Dreosto of Italy.
Premier Su Tseng-chang, seventh right, meets members of a 13-person delegation from the European Parliament in Taipei. Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
“The delegation discussed Taiwanese experiences in [the] fight against disinformation; attempts at interference in Taiwanese democracy, media, culture and education; as well as Taiwan’s efforts to reinforce its cyberresilience,” the European Parliament said in a news release.
“Taiwan uses innovative tools and involves the whole Taiwanese society to address all types of interference in its democracy, without restricting freedom of speech and media,” it said.
It is the first time the European Parliament has sent an official delegation to Taiwan.
In 2021, the European Parliament passed 12 resolutions friendly to Taiwan, showing that Taiwan-EU relations are becoming ever closer.
The special committee was just created in 2020, and its members are visiting Taiwan at a time when Taiwan-US-China relations are changing and after the EU released a report titled The EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
While the European Parliament is playing an increasingly important role in the bloc and can influence its budget, whether its resolutions can sway the EU’s overall policies remains to be seen. Nonetheless, Taiwan-related issues are certainly grabbing more attention across Europe.
Source:
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2021/11/04/2003767275
