Letter Issued by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) Church and Society Committee of the General Assembly in response to the so called "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan" by the President of China, Mr. Xi Jinping (習近平) (2 January 2019) Unity in the Face of outside Aggression is our Responsibility On 2 January 2019, President Xi Jinping of China made a speech on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the “Message to Compatriots in Taiwan”. The speech completely ignored the subjectivity of Taiwan as a country. It attributes to the sentiment of the people and threatens the use of force, seeking to make Taiwan issue an internal issue of China and to intimidate advocates of Taiwan independence who work hard for democracy. The PCT held such action of President Xi in contempt and will continue to uphold the ideal of “making Taiwan a new and independent country”. We sincerely hope that China will one day be democratized as well and give up day-dreaming about taking Taiwan. At this critical time, the whole Taiwan Country should be united in facing the outside world. We should safeguard the hard-earned democratic fruits and affirm President Tsai Ing-Wen’s determination to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty. There are nomination procedures for presidential candidates in each political party. The church will not get involved in those procedures. Some people expect President Tsai to give up seeking reelection in 2020. It is the freedom of those people to express their will. The PCT respects such expression. However, the timing in revealing those opinions is obviously not suitable at this critical moment when Taiwanese people should fight against outside aggressions. The PCT as a church has never supported or opposed any single candidate of their right to run for election. The PCT will just express the principles and ideals upon which we believe the electorate will have wisdom from God to make the most sensible decision. PCT Church and Society Committee Chairperson: Lim Se-Kiat 7 January 2019 (Note: In the event of any discrepancies the original text in Mandarin Chinese governs) |