Taiwan Church News 3811 Edition March 10 ~ 16, 2025 Weekly Topical 2025 North Eastern Asia Ecumenical Forum Opened at Taipei Reported by Lin Yi-ying from Taipei To discuss the development of regional security, human rights and democracy in Northeast Asia, 25 youth representatives from ecumenical churches,such as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia, gathered in Taipei from March 3 to 6.Entitled as “North Eastern Asia (NEA) Ecumenical Forum and Asia-Pacific Youth Human Rights Training Camp”, the assembly hopes to share with ecumenical youth how to become guardians for peace and human rights. NEA, originated in 2007, was co-founded by member churches of Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) in Northeastern Asia, and had been suspended due to Covid-19 pandemic since 2019. In December 2021, when Taiwan Ecumenical Forum (TEF) held an international online seminar, Rev Shin Seung-min, a secretary of ecumenical ministry for National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), suggested a reboot of NEA. Through a diligent efforts of Ms Zeng Ming-min, who was PCT secretary of Ecumenical Relation Committee at that time, NEA was re-started on February 16, 2022, and renamed as the North Eastern Asia Ecumenical Forum in November, 2025. Jointly organized by PCT, NCCK, National Council of Churches in Japan (NCCJ) and National Council of Churches in Philippine (NCCP), the brand new NEA pledges to promote cross-regional ministries and enhance ecumenical fellowships. In 2025, the Asia-Pacific Youth Human Rights Training Camp invited Mr Tsai Ming-hsien, former Taiwan Defense Minister, to share the contents of civil defense. He stressed that Taiwan should learn Israel’s training plans of civil defense and call Taiwanese to stand up and fight against China’s military threats and on-going invasions. He pointed out that the first island-chain stretched from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines to Indonesia has a very critical position in the strategic confrontation between democracy and autocracy, and possesses a key role to play on peace and sustainability of the world. The participants also paid attention to the recent international situations, such as the unpredictable endings of the war between Ukraine and Russia, the United States’ rules-breaking negotiation between Ukraine and Russia, and the incessant conflicts between Israel and Palestine; the prime minister’s stance towards the amended budget raised by the opposition party, and the long-term discrimination and violation of the human rights of immigrant workers for decades in Japan; the political turmoil due to a martial law declared by president Yoon Suk-yoel in Korea; the diplomatic challenges of the Philippines and Indonesia amid an ultra high-tension tug-of-war between China and the U.S.. In the morning of March 5, ecumenical youths from various countries went to visit Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park. Under the guidance of Mr Chen Chin-sheng, a political victim during KMT’s white terror period in 1950s, these ecumenical youth learned the dark history of Taiwan political prisoners who were arbitrarily arrested and detained during the period of Chiang Kai-sheik’s autocracy. To understand the sufferings of Taiwan society under KMT’s high-pressure control and dictatorship, these youth also visited prison cells, laundry rooms, reception hall, medic-care unit, as well as the jury court of the renown Formosa Magazine Incident and special monuments set up to commemorate political victims persecuted, executed and slaughtered by KMT regimes. Mr Hsih Yi-hsiang, a senior researcher of Taiwan Association for Human Rights(TAHR), also shared the event of 228 Massacre in Taiwan with these ecumenical youth in the afternoon on March 5. He introduced to the audience that TAHR, as a human rights campaigner, had always participated in political reforms with civil organizations since its establishment. Remarkably, he added, “TAHR focuses on human rights issues related to people’s daily lives, environmental protection and social justice for those in needs, such as issues of land acquisition in Taoyuan Aviation City, issues of residential justice along Hsindian Liugongjun Canal, re-establishment of Lo-Sheng Sanatorium, human rights for immigrant fishermen and workers, and humanitarian supports for Ukraine, Myanmar, Palestine and other international human rights issues. Finally, Mr Hsih paid tribute to PCT for its rock-solid commitment to stand for Taiwan’s democratic society as a trustworthy partner and an audacious guardian. Translated by Peter Wolfe |