Ecumenical Column: The “Taiwan Consensus” that emerged from Japan’s 311 Earthquake
From "Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>Date Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:57:13 +0800
3117 Edition November 21-27, 2011 Editorial Ecumenical Column: The “Taiwan Consensus” that emerged from Japan’s 311 Earthquake Written by Lee Meng-che Translated by Lydia Ma The horrific tsunami that followed the 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan on March 11 this year resulted in devastating loss of human lives and property for Japan. Days after, news of a nuclear spill at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant rocked the nation again. Despite all the calamities following this earthquake, Japanese civilian and government’s calm and orderly response in the face of every challenge has truly wowed the world. Similarly, the international community’s response and aid to Japan in the aftermath of the tsunami also brought unspeakable comfort to the hearts of Japanese people – especially Taiwan’s support immediately after the tsunami, whether in donations or in on-the-ground aid. Taiwanese people’s response during Japan’s hour of need left an indelible mark on the hearts of Japanese people that will not be forgotten. Taiwanese people demonstrated what it means to “suffer with those who are afflicted.” In response, Japanese people showed their appreciation in various ways in the past few months. The first instance was when Yoshihiko Noda, the new Prime Minister of Japan who took office on August 30, 2011, publicly lauded Taiwan’s generosity – a departure from his predecessor, Naoto Kan, who sought to downplay the issue. The second instance was during a three-day retreat attended by Christians from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea in late September featuring high-profile PCT pastors as main speakers. The meeting spent a lot of time discussing post-disaster relief ministries and God’s love in conjunction with our human responsibilities when disaster strikes. During that retreat, Rev. Tani Syouji from Okinawa went over the extent of networking between Japan and Taiwan through Okinawa and thanked Taiwan for donating more than $20 billion yen toward helping Japan. Furthermore, one Christian woman went to find Rev. J.K. Lo after the meeting to express her gratitude. With tears in her eyes, she said that Taiwanese people had donated the most in the aftermath of the tsunami despite its relatively small population size of 23 million. As a Japanese, she said she’d never forget such a generous gesture. The third instance was during a campaign fundraising meal held in Tokyo for DPP Presidential candidate, Tsai Ing-wen. Many Japanese political and economic leaders were present at that event, including former Japan Interchange Association representative Ikeda Tunagu and current Japanese House of Councilors member Yamatani Eriko. Many of them stood up to express their gratitude to Taiwan for the help received. Yamatani Eriko even added that he hoped to see in his lifetime the birth of an independent and sovereign Republic of Taiwan. From these responses we can gather that Taiwanese people’s generosity have helped garner more recognition of Taiwan’s sovereignty in the international stage and cement the bond between Japan and Taiwan. It has also had a more positive effects on diplomatic relations with other countries than methods our governments have used before, including “checkbook diplomacy” and “diplomatic truce.” In these upcoming months, let’s encourage one another by reminding ourselves of this “Taiwan miracle” and moving onward in doing what God has commanded us to do. ******************** Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local languages. You may translate and re-use our articles online only if you acknowledge the source as "Taiwan Church News" and list the names of the reporter and writer. Contact us before reprinting any of our articles for print publications. Direct comments and questions about this article to: enews@pctpress.org Visit our website for more news at: http://enews.pctpress.org/ (English) or http://www.tcnn.org (Chinese) ********************