Taiwan Church News

3771 Edition

June 3 ~ 9, 2024

Weekly Topical

Marching Around the Parliament, PCT Raised the Cross in Prayers for Taiwan and Justice

Reported by Chiu Kuo-rong from Taipei

Moderated by Rev Huang Chun-sheng, a prayer service entitled as “Stand Up for Taiwan” was held at Chi-Nan Church of Chi-Hsin Presbytery in the evening of May 31st. After the service inside the chaplain, Rev Huang raised up the cross leading the audience with candle-lights to march around the Legislative Yuan, expressing their strong protests against the Congress’s overreached expansion of lawmakers’ power. Being faithful that God will hear the outcry of Taiwanese people and everything is well governed in His hand, the prayer service ended with a blessing from Rev Koh Yi-cheng, pastor of the Justice Action Church at Taipei.

In the interview, Rev Huang remarked, “Taiwan is at its critical moment, and the public is very much wary about the Congress’ unconstitutional expansion of its mandated power.” What’s the crisis now in Taiwan, he quoted an insightful critique from Dr Wu Rui-ren, an associate researcher at the Taiwan History Institute of Academia Sinica, judging this congressional chaos as a “parliamentary coup”. He emphasized this prayer service was not a call for revolution, but an appeal to peace. He sincerely hoped, through prayer, God would hear the voices of Taiwanese people, just like the groaning of the Israel was heard by God when they were abused under the Egyptian pharaoh.

Rev Huang mentioned that Taiwanese people needed to speak out fearlessly and let the world hear Taiwan’s voice, thereby helped Taiwan become an independent country with sovereignty. He hoped Taiwan can become a new country realizing the visions of “Kingdom of God” proclaimed in the gospel. This was also the purpose of holding such a prayer meeting, he said, to call more people to stand up and protect Taiwan together.

In his sermon, Rev Zeng Yang-en, pastor of theology and education at Chi-Nan Church of Chi-Hsin Presbytery, used the story of blind Bartimaeus, described in Mark 10:46~52, to inspire Taiwan society to speak out for their freedom and justice. He pointed out that Bartimaeus was healed by Jesus through faith, which meant his firm belief that Jesus can offer what he desperately needed, so the only action for Bartimaeus is to cry out for cure! After being healed, Bartimaeus decided to follow Jesus, showing that the essence of faith is about the invisible yet firm belief and the passionate love in action. In contrast, silencing the dissidents barbarously is always cowardly done by the faithless.

Rev Zeng emphasized that faith is a critical attitude towards life. We should be brave enough to speak out what we believe and stand for the values we treasure, he said, so that the world may change. As the courage and resolve of Bartimaeus reminds people to cry out their expectations and sufferings, Rev Zeng said, the faith of Bartimaeus could play a good model for Taiwanese people to learn in dark times.

Rev Zeng reminded the audience that Taiwan, like the blind Bartimaeus, used to be isolated from his neighbors and community, but when Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he desperately needed, he bravely replied: “I want to be free!” In the same vein, as God will hear Taiwan’s prayer and inspire everyone on this island to learn from the faith and action of Bartimaeus, Rev Zeng urged Taiwanese people to cry out loud saying “We want an independent Taiwan!”.

Professor Chou Wan-yao, a historian from Department of History of National Taiwan University, was invited to give a lecture, entitled as “Should We Accept the Third United Front between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)?”, offering an in-depth historical analysis of the fights and truces between the KMT and the CCP and its colossal impacts on Taiwan.

She emphasized that the KMT should be rightly spelled as “the Chinese KMT” because the party has represented China since its inception. She also pointed out that the relationship between the Chinese KMT and the CCP is either in a bloody fight or amid a distrustful truce.

She reviewed the history of three united fronts between the Chinese KMT and the CCP: the first united front was from 1923 to 1927, during which Taiwan was under Japanese rulings; the second was from 1937 to 1947, during which Taiwan was also still under Japanese rulings, and irrelevant with the bitter loves and hates incurred between the KMT and the CCP; the third was from 1949 to 1991. After the CCP’s founding of the People’s Republic of China, the KMT, carrying the flag of the Republic of China, fled to Taiwan.

Taiwan became an extended battlefield between the KMT and the CCP. The KMT carried out brutal suppression upon the Taiwanese in the name of eliminating local gangsters and communist spies. Many Taiwanese, and the Chinese immigrated into Taiwan from other provinces of China, experienced severe political persecutions in the 1950s – the so-called “white terror period”.

Prof Chou pointed out that the third united front between the KMT and the CCP, especially via chanting the illusionary dreams of Taiwan’s unification with China, is to claim and annex Taiwan as part of China.

She pointed out that the KMT’s notorious party-state rulings in China was established in 1928, though, but never truly ruled across the entire China. Instead, the KMT party-state rulings rooted and grabbed Taiwan firmly with iron-fist.

She stressed that the brain-washing educational system of KMT’s party-state was the origin of Taiwan’s identity crisis. She also called young people to learn the importance of Taiwan as a sovereign state with its subjectivity and build an independent country free from China’s bondage.

Only by getting rid of the constitution fabricated on one-China complex and ideology can Taiwan’s freedom and democracy be guaranteed, she concluded.

Finally, Rev Huang Chun-sheng expressed that the prayer service of “Stand Up for Taiwan” will be held every Friday evening, including 30 minutes of sermon and hymns, short speeches from scholars or experts in related fields to report current situations in Taiwan, and finally a vigilant march around the Legislative Yuan with the cross and candle lights in prayers.

Translated by Peter Wolfe