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“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
ISSUE 016
This newsletter comes to you during the Lunar New Year festivities being celebrated in several parts of Asia. So we send to you all another New Year’s greeting. May the Year of the Ox bring to us all God’s every blessing despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Centennial Thanksgiving Service of a Founder of the PCT, 6 March, 2021
On March 6, the PCT and the United Reformed Church celebrated the centennial of Dr. James Maxwell who arrived in Taiwan in 1865. James Maxwell was one of the two founders of the PCT. Maxwell was a physician who set up clinics as he preached the Word of God to the Taiwanese people. This 100th anniversary commemorated across the oceans using ZOOM was attended by 75 people from the UK and Taiwan. Special Guests at the Service included
Family members: Dr William Steen, Ms Hilarie Burnett
Moderator of United Reformed Church General Assembly (2020-22): Rev Clare Downing
Moderator of Thames North Synod of the United Reformed Church: Rev Dr Andrew Prasad
Vice Moderator the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in Taiwan: Rev Hsu Hsin-Te
Taipei Representative Office in the UK: Representative, Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh
Taipei Representative Office in the UK, Edinburgh Office: Director General Lien Chien-Chen
Professor of Church History, Taiwan Theological College & Seminary: Rev Dr Cheng Yang-en
Mission Secretary - Europe & Caribbean
Council for World Mission: Rev Dr Michael N Jagessar
Principal, Scottish United Reformed & Congregational College: Rev Dr John McNeil Scott
TEF Steering Group Meeting on 14 December, 2020
In terms of Taiwan’s exclusion from international organizations due to Beijing’s opposition, the US Congress believes such a situation is detrimental to global health, civilian air safety and efforts to counter transnational crime, as well as having a negative impact on Taiwan’s democracy.
The act stresses that it is the policy of the US to advocate for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN, WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and other international bodies, as appropriate.
The BioNTech vaccine, developed globally with US drugmaker Pfizer, in December became the first coronavirus vaccine to win approval from the World Health Organization for emergency use.
In his statement Thursday, Ma from China's Taiwan Affairs Office also accused Taipei of trying to "circumvent" BioNTech's general agent in Greater China, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group.
Fosun, a China-based company, signed a "strategic collaboration" agreement with BioNTech last March giving it the rights to develop and commercialize the German drugmaker's coronavirus vaccine across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
But Chen said the Taiwanese government had never been in touch with Fosun, and was talking directly with BioNTech in Germany instead. BioNTech also had never asked Taiwan to negotiate with Fosun, he added.
Fosun did not respond to CNN's request for comment. Leading Taiwanese pharmaceutical company TTY Biopharm, which was involved in talks with BioNTech, declined to comment citing a confidentiality agreement reached between the two firms.
In a statement Thursday, BioNTech said discussions with Taiwan were ongoing. "BioNTech is committed to help bringing an end to the pandemic for people across the world and we intend to supply Taiwan with our vaccine as part of this global commitment," the statement said.
Concern that political pressure could forestall the deal with BioNTech had kept Taiwanese health minister Chen from publicly discussing it while negotiations were underway, he said in Wednesday's interview.
At a news conference Thursday, Chen welcomed BioNTech's statement and called it "an initiative to send goodwill." "We hope we can carry on and finish our original contract," he said.
In December, when Taiwan and BioNTech were close to signing the deal, Chen announced in a news conference that the self-ruled island had secured nearly 20 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, including 4.76 million through the COVAX initiative, 10 million from AstraZeneca, and another 5 million from a company "which is completing the final confirmation."
But soon after that announcement, BioNTech backed out of the deal.
While Chen did not name China, he made a thinly-veiled swipe at Beijing after going off air during a commercial break.
Although several companies have overcome scientific hurdles to develop effective Covid-19 vaccines, distributing them can be a daunting task, at risk of disruption from various business, political and geopolitical tensions.
Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed that Beijing will never allow the island to become fully independent and has refused to rule out the use of force if necessary.
Cross-strait ties have frayed since Tsai's independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power, and the pandemic has further strained relations.
On Thursday, China's Foreign Ministry hit out at Taipei, accusing it of "using the pandemic as an excuse to engage in political manipulation and hype up political issues."
"The Democratic Progressive Party should ... do some real things to promote the health and well-being of the people in Taiwan," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a briefing.
Taiwan has been a rare success in the fight against coronavirus, thanks to its swift action to ban incoming travel from mainland China at the onset of the outbreak in Wuhan, as well as imposing strict border controls and quarantine requirements throughout the pandemic. As of Friday, the island had only reported nine deaths and fewer than 1,000 infections -- the majority of which were imported cases.
But when it comes to vaccination, Taipei has fallen behind many other Asian governments. Chen previously told Taiwan's state-run Central News Agency that the island could possibly start offering Covid-19 vaccines in June. Thanks to its successful containment of the virus, Taiwan faces less pressure for a speedy rollout of mass vaccination, in contrast to hard-hit countries like the United States and Britain.
「世人哪！耶和華已指示你何為善。他向你索要的是什麼呢？只要你行公義，好憐憫，存謙卑的心，與你的神同行。」
彌迦書6章8節
通訊# 16
本通訊發出時，正值亞洲部分國家在慶祝新年，TEF在此恭祝大家新年平安。雖然COVID-19疫情尚未平息，願上帝的恩典臨到我們，為新的一年帶來祝福。
2021年3月6日，台灣基督長老教會創始者馬雅各醫師﹙Dr. James Maxwell﹚百年紀念
1865年宣教士馬雅各醫師來台開展宣教工作。台灣基督長老教會與英國聯合歸正教會於2021年3月6日一同追憶馬雅各辭世百年。馬雅各醫師是台灣基督長老教會的兩位創始人之一，他設立診所醫治台灣人的病痛，並向台灣人傳講上主的話語以醫治心靈。本次百年紀念，主辦單位使用ZOOM跨時區做禮拜，共計75人參加。 出席禮拜的嘉賓有：
家庭成員：Dr William Steen及Ms Hilarie Burnett
英國聯合歸正教會議長﹙2020-22﹚：Rev Clare Downing
英國聯合歸正教會泰晤士河北教區議長：Rev Dr Andrew Prasad
台灣基督長老教會副議長：徐信得牧師
駐英國台北代表處：駐英代表謝武樵
駐英國臺北代表處愛丁堡辦事處：處長連建辰
台灣神學院：鄭仰恩基督教史教授
世界傳道會歐洲及加勒比海地區宣教幹事：Rev Dr Michael N Jagessar
蘇格蘭聯合改革暨公理會學院：Rev Dr John McNeil Scott校長
TEF執行小組已於2020年12月14日召開
TEF執行小組的決議：
1. 歡迎世界基督徒學生聯盟的新代表Chung Hui-Fan女士，並感謝Sunita Suna過往參與執行小組的貢獻。
2. TEF執行小組指派神學反思工作組，並以30人為上限，由黃伯和教授擔任臨時召集人，其任務為：
*深入理解聖經的教導－行公義，好憐憫，存謙卑的心，與你的神同行；
*針對臺灣及亞太地區人民的正義與和平，分享神學見解；
*呼籲教會及上帝的子民為遭受不公義與苦難的受害者帶來希望，並
*更新教會及普世運動，一同跟從上帝之光，走上正義的朝聖之路。
黃伯和教授是臺灣著名的神學家，曾任台南神學院院長、長榮大學院長及副校長，現任台灣本土神學研究中心院長，並擔任CONCILIUM國際神學期刊編輯委員會委員。
2021年3月23日將召開第一次神學反思工作組ZOOM線上會議
3. TEF執行小組確認2021年及未來的事工計畫：
上期通訊提到，2020年12月29日通過的《台灣保證法》，是台美關係極重要的發展，該法案聲明：
「對台軍售應常態化，尤其應協助台灣發展及整合不對稱戰力，其中包括水面下作戰及防空戰力；」
相關報導請點選連結台北時報
2021年2月18日一則CNN的報導指出，台灣試圖向BioNTech購買疫苗卻遭受阻撓。對此，台灣譴責外部勢力干涉，而中國則否認有其行為。
相關報導請點選連結CNN
Hong Kong (CNN) － The Chinese government has denied it obstructed Taiwan's coronavirus vaccine purchase from BioNTech, after the island's health minister revealed that its deal with the German drugmaker fell through at the last minute due to possible "political pressure."
Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said Thursday it was "purely fabrication" that Beijing had intervened in BioNTech's vaccine sale to Taiwan, state news agency Xinhua reported.
A day earlier, Taiwanese health minister Chen Shih-chung said in a radio interview that Taiwan and BioNTech were about to sign a deal for 5 million vaccine doses in December, when the company suddenly backed out.
"In the process of (discussing the deal) I had always worried that there would be external forces intervening," Chen said, without naming any country. "We believe there was political pressure," he said. "Back then we had already prepared our press release. But certain people don't want Taiwan to be too happy."
The BioNTech vaccine, developed globally with US drugmaker Pfizer, in December became the first coronavirus vaccine to win approval from the World Health Organization for emergency use.
In his statement Thursday, Ma from China's Taiwan Affairs Office also accused Taipei of trying to "circumvent" BioNTech's general agent in Greater China, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group.
Fosun, a China-based company, signed a "strategic collaboration" agreement with BioNTech last March giving it the rights to develop and commercialize the German drugmaker's coronavirus vaccine across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
But Chen said the Taiwanese government had never been in touch with Fosun, and was talking directly with BioNTech in Germany instead. BioNTech also had never asked Taiwan to negotiate with Fosun, he added.
In a statement Thursday, BioNTech said discussions with Taiwan were ongoing. "BioNTech is committed to help bringing an end to the pandemic for people across the world and we intend to supply Taiwan with our vaccine as part of this global commitment," the statement said.
Concern that political pressure could forestall the deal with BioNTech had kept Taiwanese health minister Chen from publicly discussing it while negotiations were underway, he said in Wednesday's interview.
At a news conference Thursday, Chen welcomed BioNTech's statement and called it "an initiative to send goodwill." "We hope we can carry on and finish our original contract," he said.
In December, when Taiwan and BioNTech were close to signing the deal, Chen announced in a news conference that the self-ruled island had secured nearly 20 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, including 4.76 million through the COVAX initiative, 10 million from AstraZeneca, and another 5 million from a company "which is completing the final confirmation."
But soon after that announcement, BioNTech backed out of the deal.
While Chen did not name China, he made a thinly-veiled swipe at Beijing after going off air during a commercial break.
"It's just like our (attempts to) attend the World Health Assembly," he said to the host, referring to Beijing's blocking of Taiwan from participating in the World Health Organization's annual assembly as an observer since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.
The stalling of the deal between Taiwan and BioNTech is the latest example highlighting the difficulties in the global distribution of vaccines, which health experts say is integral to ending a pandemic that has killed more than 2.4 million worldwide.
Although several companies have overcome scientific hurdles to develop effective Covid-19 vaccines, distributing them can be a daunting task, at risk of disruption from various business, political and geopolitical tensions.
Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed that Beijing will never allow the island to become fully independent and has refused to rule out the use of force if necessary.
Cross-strait ties have frayed since Tsai's independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power, and the pandemic has further strained relations.
On Thursday, China's Foreign Ministry hit out at Taipei, accusing it of "using the pandemic as an excuse to engage in political manipulation and hype up political issues."
"The Democratic Progressive Party should ... do some real things to promote the health and well-being of the people in Taiwan," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a briefing.
Taiwan has been a rare success in the fight against coronavirus, thanks to its swift action to ban incoming travel from mainland China at the onset of the outbreak in Wuhan, as well as imposing strict border controls and quarantine requirements throughout the pandemic. As of Friday, the island had only reported nine deaths and fewer than 1,000 infections -- the majority of which were imported cases.