RECONCILIATION   REUNIFICATION

Ecumenical Solidarity and Sharing in Northeast Asia

January 1996, Macao

Dear Friends,

At the beginning of a new year, as we are gathering here, I feel very much elated for God’s blessings to make this consultation possible. Allow me first of all to convey our warmest greetings in Christ on behalf of the China Christian Council to all of you participating in this meeting, and especially to the brothers and sisters from North and South Korea. We wish this consultation will contribute significantly to the Peace in this part of Asia and to the progress in the eventual reunification of North and South Korea.

The goal of the initiative today is peace in North-East Asia, of which the reunification of Korea is an important part. We, from a country with the closest historical links with Korea, feel that we have greater expectations in this initiative. I want to express on behalf of China Christian Council our solidarity for the endeavor of Korean Christians Federation and the National Council of Churches in Korea for peace and reunification and our willingness of sharing today and in long future.

We are too close neighbors to take any disregard of each other’s concerns and more often we share the weal and woe together. Last summer we had the same bad floods in northeast China as in North Korea. We received assistance from the churches of Korea and we also tried to help with the purchase and transport of relief goods to North Korea. I regret that I was not able to attend the Jubilee Convention to join the South-North Common Prayers on 13th of August with Korean friends. However, peace and reunification of Korea has always been in our prayers. The Jubilee idea -- a time of God’s grace, where debts are forgiven and the nation is restored to justice and peace -- also inspired hope and enthusiasm among thousands of Chinese Christians.

At present, the international situation has undergone profound and complex changes since the end of the Cold War. The world is generally moving toward relaxation and multipolarity. However, it is by no means trouble-free. Irrationalities and inequities still exist in international relations; armed conflicts and local wars over territory, ethnicity, religion or resources have kept cropping up. The unfair and irrational international political and economic order has not been changed and hundreds of millions of people in the developing world are still struggling with poverty. The survival and development of humankind remain confronted with a multitude of formidable challenges. Peace and development -- the two major tasks of humankind -- are far from being achieved. Under these circumstances, and in Asia where the developing countries make up the bulk of the world in terms of population, a new initiative to rekindle the flames of ecumenical solidarity for peace and to strengthen commitment and sharing of resources is not only appropriate, but also urgently needed.

As a developing country, China has had similar historical experiences and the same need for development as other developing countries in the world and in church affairs, we may also have things in common in each other’s particular context. Therefore, we Christians in China fully understand and are strongly in solidarity with the Christians in North and South Korea in their quest for peace and reunification. We are willing to share our pains, our commitment and our experience with our brothers and sisters in Korea.

Today, I would like to share with our friends how the Chinese Church achieved tremendous growth with the maintenance of the Three-Self Principle and how we established the Amity Foundation as a channel of ecumenical sharing to serve the Chinese people, bear witness to our Lord and make the Christian presence felt in society.

I will not dwell in length but will give a very brief introduction to the history of the church in China as the background to the initiation of the Three-Self Principle -- self-government, self-support and self-propagation.

Christianity in China has not a very long history and had almost died out three times by the 19th Century when Protestantism was introduced. However, it remained alienated from the broad masses of the Chinese people due to the unfortunate association of the missionary movement with western colonialism, despite the good personal intention of many missionary friends. To take root in the Chinese soil, the Chinese church had to live down its foreign image and identify with our fellow Chinese. In one word, it had to achieve Chinese selfhood. It is important for the church in any country, especially in a developing one like China to have a selfhood of its own rather than a borrowed identity. A Chinese selfhood for the church in China is not only vital to its survival, but also helps it to be accepted by the fellow countrymen, it helps it communicate with them and thus facilitates evangelism in order to achieve growth.

Since the beginning of the Three-Self Movement in the early 50’s, the meaning we have given to self-support is the financial maintenance of the personnel and the work of evangelism. The nurturing and building up of the body of Christ is to be the responsibility of the Christians in China and not to rely on missionary funds from abroad. However, I want to make it clear that Self-support is not a rejection of inter-church sharing of resources. It must be recognised as a very important precondition for the church in China becoming Chinese. Only a church possessing a selfhood of its own can play its part on the give-and-take of inter-church sharing. In other words, it is only as we overcome dependence and achieve independence that true interdependence is possible.

The Three-Self principle has nothing to do with self-isolation either. No self-isolated church can have vitality because no member separated from the body of Christ can survive, not to mention grow. Selfhood can only be meaningful in the context of the Church Universal, for we are ONE in Christ, we are individual members of the same body with Jesus Christ as the head and we must relate properly to each other. We are related to all churches and church organisations overseas which respect our Three-Self principles and treat us on an equal footing so as to strengthen the Christian bonds between Chinese Christians and Christians overseas.

From the same perspective selfhood does not mean that we are to refrain from giving to other churches. Within our limited means, we do want to be sure, when giving, that it is truly a symbol of love, with due respect for the integrity and rights of these churches, making no publicity, satisfying no ego, giving to no specific designation and asking for no accountability. Our own selfhood must not infringe on the sacred space that is the selfhood of other countries and of the churches there.

We have extensive contacts with friends overseas. We have received enormous support spiritually and materially. The Amity Foundation is an example.

The Amity Foundation is an independent Chinese voluntary organisation created in 1985 on the initiative of Chinese Christians to promote health, education, social services and rural development in China. Amity aims at helping change for the better the lives at the grassroots in China and responding to people with special needs. In its ten years’ existence, Amity’s projects have spread far and wide to 26 provinces, making Christians’ involvement, participation and impact in society widely known to the Chinese people.

We greatly appreciate the overseas support which makes Amity’s work possible, but Amity is Chinese. It is Amity’s strong conviction that the Chinese people must assume leadership of China’s development. Amity serves as a channel for people-to-people contact and the ecumenical sharing of resources. As a non-governmental organisation, Amity is independent in decision making and in responding to the needs of the society whenever it sees appropriate.

Many of Amity’s projects are in cooperation with churches and Christian organisations overseas. The guiding principle for project cooperation is that partners must be open and aboveboard and that the projects must meet the needs of the target people and fit in with our goals. In this manner, we have benefited spiritually, theologically and financially from many such cooperative projects.

The establishment of the Amity Printing Company is another illustration of this. It is a joint venture between the UBS and the Amity Foundation, prioritising the printing of Bibles and other Christian literature. Christians in many places in the world have generously donated money through Bible Societies in their own countries and channeled by UBS to help us print Bibles by providing us with modern equipment and constantly supplying free paper. We celebrated the printing of 10 million copies of the Bible in July 1995. Truly speaking, we could hardly imagine having such an establishment even before China’s "Cultural Revolution".

I have brought with me some copies of the book "Compassion and Development", an introductory to the Amity Foundation published in commemoration of Amity’s 10th anniversary and printed by the Amity Printing Company. I will be happy to share with friends here who are interested in its work.

As I often say, the emergence of the Amity Foundation is the result of the new stage reached by Chinese Christians. When I say new stage, I am referring to the policy of reform and opening up to the outside world, which makes international people-to-people contact and mutual sharing of resources possible. Amity is a new form of Christian involvement and ecumenical sharing. Amity cannot be expected to make a decisive contribution to the reform and modernisation in China, yet it can be a leaver and demonstrate the particular type of contribution which Christians can make to development service. This in itself is important.

There are many other kinds of cooperation between CCC and churches abroad. We have accepted scholarships offered by theological seminaries both in western and in Asian countries or regions for the young graduates from our seminaries to pursue their theological studies abroad. Many friends have also helped us with promotion work -- making video-tapes and publishing booklets to help Christians abroad understand the real situation of the Chinese church so that they can pray for us in a more informed way. Their prayers make us feel uplifted. These are just a few projects. You may feel bored if I continue to illustrate with many other examples.

In evaluating cooperative efforts of the past, it seems to me that true partnership in Christian work is of utmost importance. We believe there is genuine, disinterested love between Christians across national boundaries. Therefore, Christians overseas are welcome to join our efforts for the promotion of China and the betterment of the lives of the Chinese people. China is a big country with a population of 1,2 billion. If the basic needs of the Chinese people cannot be met, then China will again become either an area of contention among foreign powers, or a burden for the other countries of the world to feed and care for. From a Christian perspective, we are patriotic not out of any narrow sense of nationalism, but in order to promote harmony in our country and among all the nationals of the world as a whole.

Here I would take this opportunity to express my great appreciation to WCC, LWF and the many churches and church-related organisations in North America, Europe, Asia and in other parts of the world for openly stating that they would consult the China Christian Council before undertaking any programme in China. This is the right kind of spirit of partnership for Christian ministry. We are grateful for their support in human and material resources.

As we often say every individual church in the world lives in its own particular context. Therefore, each church has its own way of dealing with the concrete issues arising from its own context. Universality and particularity are like two foci of an eclipse which we deem of essential importance for the growth of our church and for its social ministry. Our experience is in the social setting of China. While sharing, the differences and unique conditions of each country and church must be taken into full consideration.

Like the Chinese proverb running "Cast a brick to attract jade" -- I would like to offer a few common place remarks by way of introduction so that others may come up with valuable opinions. I wish my presentation today to be just like a brick which will be followed by valuable jades. We pray for Peace and development in Northeast Asia and we wish the Korean people, our close neighbors unity and prosperity.

Once again on behalf of the China Christian Council, I reaffirm our readiness and commitment in solidarity with the people of Korea in their efforts for peace and reunification which will eventually bring an end to the suffering of a divided people, contributing to the Peace in North-East Asia and the world as a whole.

Thank you for your attention.