wfn.org | Hong Kong Church Visitors Get a New Impression of Taiwan

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Taiwan Church News 2735, 26 July - 1 August 2004
Reported by Li Hsin-ren.  Translated and Rewritten by David Alexander

"Until we visited Taiwan, we didn't really understand why the people here
should want to be independent of China."  Miss Tan Wan-qi, a youth
participants in a visit to Taiwan by members of Shum-oi Church from the Hong
Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China, said that in her hometown they
only heard of Taiwan through the mass media, so they had no idea why anyone
here should desire independence. After their visit to this nation they
gradually came to understand Taiwan's situation.

Eleven members of the "Joshua Fellowship", a young people's group from
Shum-oi, visited Taiwan on July 24th. The aim of the visit was to increase
understanding of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) and its positions.
They visited PCT congregations in Peitou and Tamsui, Mackay Memorial
Hospital,
The General Assembly, the Women's Development Centre and other agencies.

The Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China had sent a delegation
to visit churches in Beijing in 1997 but waited until this year to sponsor a
similar trip to Taiwan. For the young people on the trip, it was their first
time in Taiwan. They had been curious about the calls for independence, and
now have a better concept of the context in which the calls come.

Many members of the Joshua Fellowship are recent high school graduates. One
of
them, Ms. Meng Miao-er commented that there are differing ideas of
"independence" between the Special Autonomous Region in which she lives and
Taiwan. Hong Kong people desire independent policy to allow them to directly
elect their own local leaders while remaining within China.  Taiwan's hope,
she noted, is for a clear and complete division from China.

She said that Hong Kong's mass media reported on the debates over Taiwan's
recent presidential election and the post election protests, but left unclear
the state of affairs. She was grateful for the opportunity to make direct
observations.

For More Information: Shum Oi Church http://soc.hkcccc.org
Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local languages.
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