Former PCT General Secretary’s wife publishes memoir

From "Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>
Date Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:53:25 +0800

3068 Edition

December 13~19, 2010

Headline News



Former PCT General Secretary’s wife publishes memoir



Reported by Lin Yi-ying

Written by Lydia Ma



Ruth Kao, wife of former PCT General Secretary C.M. Kao, recently 
published a memoir. The publication date, December 10, 2010, 
coincided with Human Rights Day, and a small gathering was held at 
PCT Headquarters to publicize this memoir.



The book was written by Hsieh Ta-li (a PCT missionary serving in 
Singapore) based on Kao’s dictation or narration of key events in her 
life and published by Taiwan Theological College and Seminary.



In her memoir, Kao retells stories such as her father’s imprisonment 
during the Japanese colonization of Taiwan, the death of her elder 
brother in the brutal February 28 Massacre, and her husband’s arrest 
and imprisonment soon after the Kaohsiung Incident.



As she watched her family become political prisoners or victims under 
an unjust system, Kao writes that these incidents robbed her of her 
human rights to live without fear and she is also a victim of human 
rights abuses if viewed from this perspective.



Her book is her attempt to help people today understand what she went 
through and how she felt as these events unfolded before her eyes and 
how she managed to live through them.



Ruth Kao married Rev. C.M. Kao in 1958 before her husband was 
appointed General Secretary of the PCT in 1970. His term in office 
saw the passage of several famous PCT statements, including: 
Statement on our National Fate, Declaration of Human Rights, Our 
Appeal, and more. 



Life for this couple took a dramatic turn when the Kaohsiung Incident 
broke out and Rev. Kao was arrested and imprisoned in April of 1980 
by the KMT government on the charge of hiding Shih Ming-te – a 
political activist critical of the KMT at the time.



During the 4 years, 3 months, and 21 days that her husband was 
imprisoned, Ruth Kao not only became an executive committee member in 
the WARC, but also helped various organizations advance women’s and 
children’s rights.



For many people, Ruth Kao has become a symbol of quiet strength and 
the epitome of a modern wife and woman of noble character.



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