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With China "And/Also" is better than "Either/or"
I had a wonderful
eleven-day holiday in North China in late November. The
classical cities of Hangzhou and Suchow gave me much delight
and Shanghai was entirely absorbing. It was a return visit
to Beijing, my first there since l984.
In Shanghai we
fellowshipped at the Community Church in its Sunday
afternoon service which was packed with expatriates; and in
Beijing we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with Pastor Elyns
MacInness of the Good Shepherd International Church.
The Shanghai Church meets
as guests of a Chinese congregation whose beautiful property
in the heart of the former French zone looks like a fine
Presbyterian Church in North America. Three Chinese
congregations pack it on Sunday. The Beijing Church meets
in rented quarters in a hotel. These different venues
reflect the somewhat differing policies of the Chinese
government in each province regarding religion.
I know little about China
but I know it is a huge country over which foreigners should
hesitate to make categorical judgments. The reality of
China, whether we are trying to understand religious
practice, human rights, or political and economic evolution,
calls much more for an "and/also" approach than an
"either/or" attitude. We should not generalize about China
unless we know it very, very well.
Some cities and provinces
of China have increasing freedom; also other areas have less
freedom. In some places in China the Christian Church
operates with a relative degree of freedom and thrives
openly; also in some places the church is tightly
controlled.
The US/Chinese agreement
to prepare the way for the PRC to join the WTO with American
support was signed while we were visiting and it was amazing
that taxi drivers and hotel clerks could say to me in
understandable English: "Your country and China are together
in WTO." I wondered if similarly placed workers in the U.S.
would have as much comprehension of WTO. But I hesitate to
generalize about my own country as well.
My wife and I were
greatly encouraged with what we experienced in China. Our
expatriate Christian friends whom we saw there are happy in
their lifestyles and fairly optimistic about how the country
is developing. The problems remain daunting, but there is
praiseworthy progress in such areas as dramatically
increased literacy, adequate food for everyone, and
attention to improving the urbane lifestyle of the masses
through pollution control and more green areas.
The new Shanghai Museum
is utterly stunning in its design, layout and collection and
presents the most charming guards - all bi-lingual young
ladies - I have ever seen in public museums.
Also, the hotel staff we
met were uniformly well trained and courteous. So, it
seems, I do generalize about some positive developments in
China!
If you have a chance to
see China, take it and arrive by laying aside some of the
biases which westerners tend to have. It's an "and/also"
place of great changes and great challenges.
Pastor Gene Preston