Northeast Asians raise voices against economic injustices

The local impact of the global economic system was keenly felt by participants in the Northeast Asia Area Council (NEAAC) consultation on the 10th anniversary of the Accra Confession.

In the shadow of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the Huakuang neighbourhood of Taipei, Taiwan, was a thriving, historic community with generations of families affordably living along its tree-lined streets. Originally on the outskirts of town, the city grew around it over the decades–and the land became increasingly valuable.

Unfortunately for the residents the land they had long lived on was owned by the government. The residents were considered illegal occupants, despite buying their homes, being officially registered at those addresses and paying taxes on them.

In 2007 the government came up with a scheme to turn the area into Taipei’s “Wall Street.” After several years of litigation the residents were forcibly evicted, with many also fined millions of Taiwanese dollars for their “illegal occupation,” and the neighbourhood was levelled.

The “Wall Street” scheme was abandoned in the wake of the financial crisis, replaced by one to create a new tourist attraction. That hasn’t happened either, and today the land sits vacant, the homes demolished, hundreds of trees uprooted and more than 700 families forced to live elsewhere.

Only Mr. Lee remains, squatting on a corner near where his home used to be. Nearly 90 years old, Mr. Lee has lived in the Huakuang neighbourhood for almost 60 years and now subsists on a meagre US$100 a month in government assistance, plus whatever he can earn from scrounging recyclables.

“Can you imagine losing your home, your neighbours, your memories, your community–and then being fined on top of that? It’s hard for anyone to comprehend,” said Wei-Hui (Judy) Cheng, a former Huakuang resident who continues to work for justice on this issue.

The consultation participants agreed that remaining silent on this–and other economic and ecological injustices–was not an option. They found that “the Accra Confession is still very relevant and perhaps all the more so ten years later and specifically in our region as we can easily think of problematic examples in our countries which are related to the issues of economic injustice and ecological destruction.”

The Accra Confession, a prophetic statement on economic and environmental justice, was created in 2004 by the then World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC). WARC has since become a part of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC).

A statement issued by the NEAAC consultation laments that the Accra Confession is not well known among member churches in the region, despite its continuing relevance. Among other conclusions, the statement includes the following:

“We noticed that although each country faces different issues with inclinations and nuances, many of the issues are not just isolated local events, but are interwoven as a region because of the nature of a globalized world.

“While a globalized economy has brought its conveniences and advantages, it also clearly destabilized our regional economy and marginalized and alienated many people who are under the influence of this global system.

“And because of its global nature it also makes every one of us complicit and entangled in the system. We need to raise awareness of and dig deeper into the workings of such global forces of oppression and exploitation, and we also desperately need to try and find ways to respond to it.”

The consultation’s statement will be presented with other regional conclusions at a global Accra Confession consultation to be held in Hannover, Germany, at the beginning of November.

Consultation participants came from Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines. The consultation was held September 9-11, 2014, in Taipei and was graciously hosted by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.

This is the latest in a series of consultations organized by the WCRC’s Justice and Partnership Programme Office in cooperation with the regional councils. For more information, please contact Dora Arce-Valentín: dav@wcrc.eu.

• Read the statement [PDF].
• See more pictures from the consultation.
• Visit the Huakuang Community Facebook page.