military officer on each campus to oversee all students, who would be required to take military training, and enforce a requirement that all education be carried out in Mandarin rather than in Taiwanese, which is the language of more than threequarters of the people.

The Church Reaffirms Its Style and Purpose

The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan has consistently affirmed that its policy and actions are based only on its love of God and its love of the people of Taiwan. Faith and social responsibility are inseparable, according to Presbyterian religious conviction. Government intervention in the life and witness of the Church

can thus only be viewed as abridgement of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according to which all are entitled to manifest their religion or belief in teaching, practice, and worship.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, brief comments on two other major countries in East Asia.

The People's Republic of China

Chinese Christians told a delegation from the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. in November 1981 that there was gross violation of human rights during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). All religious activities came to a standstill because of the "ultra-leftist" policies symbolized by the "Gang of Four." The Article in the Chinese Constitution which guaranteed freedom of religious belief was totally disregarded. Visitors have heard stories of deprivation, humiliation, and physical injury to believers of religious faiths. There has been marked improvement since 1976. Today the churches, temples and mosques in China are experiencing record attendance. Religious representatives in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference have been working cooperatively to restore the Article on religious freedom to its original form, doing away with its bias toward

atheiss. The Draft Constitution (revised) is due for ratification by the National People's Congress in November 1982. At the national-policy level, therefore, there has been clearly-identified improvement in the direction of movement toward religious freedom. Operating still under Cultural Revolution assumptions, however, some local and regional authorities are reported to have continued to curtail certain religious practices.

Japan

Although the situation in Japan is radically different from those on which I have reported to you at greater length, there are troubling signs there as well. The Constitution of Japan, Article 19, states that "Freedom of thought and of conscience shall not be violated," and Article 20 that "Freedom of religion is guaranteed." However, resurgent Shinto militarism has threatened the rights of a variety of religious groups and individuals, both Buddhist and Christian. Yasukuni Shrine and Ise Shrine are now visited annually by public officials. In dealing with a Christian widow's objection to her husband's being "enshrined" in a local shrine, the regional court stated in her favor that "the freedom of belief and religion is a basic human right." However, the government of Japan publicly responded that this enshrinement was "a routine matter and was not a religious activity. Also we cannot recognize the personal religious rights upon which the content of the court decision is based." Such a position argued formally raises serious questions about the future of the religious freedom which the Japanese have recently experienced.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, let me thank you for this opportunity to lay before you the concerns of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. with respect to religious intolerance and persecution in some Asian Societies.

They

Most of the countries discussed have very special relations with our own. are considered to play key roles in the Western security sphere, and in some cases, therefore, Congress has at times chosen not to apply the sanctions contained in

U.S. legislation on human rights as a central factor in evaluating foreign relations. We regret that the U.S. government is perceived to be the chief supporter of repressive regimes such as those in the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan without apparent regard for their violations of human rights, including religious freedom, acknowledged by all in the Universal Declaration. The true security envisioned for those countries and, therefore, for the United States can only be founded on unconditional respect for human rights for all peoples. U.S. foreign policy should conform to this basic principle. We hope that Congress will act accordingly.

We are grateful for the role our government has played in the past in the international arena: first, insisting that human-rights considerations be enshrined in the United Nations Charter; then, contributing in a major way to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is an embarassment to our nation that we remain one of the few major powers that continues to refuse to ratify the 1966 United Nations Human Rights Covenants and many other key international humanrights instruments designed to enforce the high standards which we so strongly advocated. It would be a welcome sign to all and an encouragement to suffering peoples everywhere were Congress to rectify this state of affairs. We hope that you will implement such actions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and the members of your committee for your attention.

Mr. BONKER. Dr. Coe.

STATEMENT OF SHOKI COE, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION, WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES Mr. COE. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for your kind invitation to address this important hearing.

May I respond to those kind words uttered by Mr. Leach at the beginning by saying that we Taiwanese both in the church in Taiwan and abroad owe him an unforgettable debt for standing up so clearly for the forgotten people in Taiwan whose right is so utterly denied.

I am currently known as Shoki Coe. This is the name I have chosen when I was granted the British citizenship in 1967. I have been asked to share with you some key aspects pertaining to the persecution of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.

But before I address myself to these issues, I would like to beg your indulgence to identify myself more fully because I have had to use, and am known by, several other names. The circumstances which forced me to use several names other than the Taiwanese name given by my Taiwanese parents illustrate quite well the major dilemma of the Taiwanese people. It is an example of the denial of the right to self-determination.

I have introduced myself to you as Shoki Coe. The name given to me by my parents should be pronounced in our mother tongue-Ng Chiong-hui. This is how I am known among my fellow Taiwanese both in Taiwan and abroad. However, not so long ago, between 1937 and 1947 when I was in England as a student, I had to carry a Japanese passport in which my name had to be pronounced KO Shoki.

As you will recall, that was the period when Taiwan, like Korea, was a colony of Japan, and Japanese was the so-called Koku-go; the national language in Taiwan.

Then between 1947 and 1967 I was known by yet another name, Hwang Chang Hui, because in traveling abroad, I had no alternative but to carry a passport issued by the Nationalist (Kuomingtang KMT) regime in Taiwan. And Mandarin, another foreign language, has now superseded Japanese as the national language for the Taiwanese.

In saying all this about my name, I wish to emphasize to you that I am a Taiwanese whose identity has been complicated and distorted by the intrusion of the powers into Taiwan from the outside, and this unsatisfactory situation is the main cause of the problem and predicament of Taiwan and its people in a nutshell. We have to live in our own homeland as second class citizens. We have to use our mother tongue as the second class language, very often with an imposed sense of shame and guilt. In essence we are denied our inalienable right to self-determination.

Aside from my personal experience of an ever-changing identity, I bring my testimony to you as a Taiwanese pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan [PCT]. I was twice its moderator-in 1957 and 1969-and served as the president of its theological seminary1949 to 1965-prior to joining the World Council of Churches as its director of the Theological Education Fund.

Many of those who are suffering in Taiwan are, in fact, my former students including our church's general secretary, Rev. Kao Chun-Ming. They are caught up in the same history of suffering and colonialism which I have tried briefly to describe. Their suffering I regard to be mine as well. We are struggling together for the fate of our island nation and for the future of its 18 million people. In spite of my professional retirement, I feel privileged to continue to serve as the chairperson for a worldwide movement known as Christians for Self-Determination in Taiwan.

Turning to the question of the current persecution of the PCT by the KMT, let me begin by confirming and endorsing the interpretation and the substance contained in the testimony of Rev. Arie Brouwer which you heard a while ago. What he has so ably summarized and documented for you about the church situation in Taiwan today has been well-documented, widely publicized and attested to in previous congressional hearings.

I do not wish to recount for you again the courageous statements which my church has made and the unprecedented level of harassment and intimidation by the KMT which ensued. The imprisonment of the Rev. Kao is our church's most eloquent statement of its costly commitment in solidarity with the Taiwanese people and with their aspirations for a compassionate and just society.

You have heard about how the KMT denied our church's right to participate fully in the ecumenical fellowship by forcing it to withdraw from the World Council of Churches and much has been publicized about the KMT's deplorable action of confiscation of the Bibles printed in our mother tongue and the language of the majority of the people in Taiwan.

But I should like to draw your special attention to an insidious strategy conducted by the KMT in order to split the strength and authority of our church which is based on the Presbyterian polity under the leadership regionally of the Presbytery and nationality of the General Assembly. There is increasing evidence that the strategy takes the following forms.

First, the churches in the mountains which have been the strongest supporters of General Secretary Kao and whose church buildings have never been subjected to property tax are now required to pay property tax. Since these congregations are very poor, they are in danger of having their buildings confiscated as a penalty of failing to meet sustained tax payments.

Second, through the session of each congregation, which is composed mainly of elders, the KMT is infiltrating the church by pressuring the congregation to elect KMT sympathizers as elders. The implication is far-reaching because the session runs the life of the church, including the appointment of pastors and the management of church funds.

Third, the KMT is intimidating our congregations to support special government legislation which will make the sessions more independent of the General Assembly-the divide and rule tactic. No doubt you are aware of the shelving, in the Legislative Yuan, of the "Regulations for Shrines and Temples". I do not believe for one moment that this is a closed matter. The legislation will be enacted once international attention lapses, or even is relaxed. This enactment will make our local churches much more vulnerable to KMT