wfn.org | PCT leaders travel to US to deliver open letter to Obama

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3011 Edition

>November 9~15, 2009

PCT leaders travel to US to deliver open letter to Obama

>Reported by Lin Yi-ying

>Written by Lydia Ma

As part of preparations ahead of US President Barack Obama’s  visit to China on November 15~18, PCT General Assembly

Moderator Leonard Lin and PCT General Secretary Andrew Chang  traveled to Washington D.C. in early November to personally

deliver “An Open Letter of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan  to U.S. President Barack Obama” to U.S. Congress and Department of

>State.

In the letter, PCT urged the Obama administration to seriously  consider Taiwanese people’s concerns about the increasingly China-

leaning policies of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and the  impact such policies have on Taiwan’s democracy, autonomy, and

future. Chang and Lin returned to Taiwan on November 14.

According to Lin, the main purpose of this trip is to make US  Congress aware of Taiwanese people’s anxiety over Ma’s China-

leaning policies and the thousands of Chinese missiles still aimed  at Taiwan. Most importantly, PCT leaders hope the US government

can understand that many in Taiwan are worried about the US  government’s aloofness concerning the safety and future of Taiwan.

PCT leaders urged Obama to stand up for Taiwanese people’s  human rights and Taiwan’s safety and democracy when meeting with

Chinese President Hu Jintao in mid-November, for this is the only  way to safeguard peace and security throughout the region of Asia-

>Pacific.

According to reports, Lin and Chang also visited Taiwanese  churches in New York and New Jersey during this trip. Besides giving

these churches an update on what has been going on in Taiwan, they  also urged Taiwanese churches in the US to speak to their US

>representatives on behalf of Taiwan.

After conducting a tour of local Taiwanese churches in the US, Lin  and Chang went to Washington to personally deliver their open

letter to US State Department and US Congress. They also met with  a few Senators and Congressmen sympathetic to Taiwan’s

plight and urged them to speak on behalf of Taiwanese people in  the US legislature.

In related news, PCT leaders attended a convention in Japan for  Taiwanese churches earlier this month before their US tour and gave

a report there on recent happenings in Taiwan in addition to an  update on church ministries across Taiwan. Delegates in attendance

represented Taiwanese churches all over the world. The next  convention for Taiwanese churches will take place in Germany in 2011.

To see “An Open Letter of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan  to U.S. President Barack Obama”, refer to

http://www.pct.org.tw/english/enNews_pct.htm?strBlockID=B00176&strConte ntID=C2009081000008&strCTID=&strDesc=Y&strPub=&strASP=enNews_pc t

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