Co-organizer: Church and Society Committee, Tainan Presbytery, Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
Closing Session: Chinese Society Under Religious Control
The closing session of the series. June 4th witness Wu Renhua described how, after the 1989 massacre, the Chinese Communist Party set about controlling Chinese society through both institutions and law — particularly after the State Council issued the first Regulations on Religious Affairs in 2004 — using the State Administration for Religious Affairs and the Party’s United Front Work Department to monitor and suppress, constraining people’s freedom of belief. The session also asked how a democratic Taiwan can make itself count in influencing China, and how Taiwan might serve as a base for supporting religious freedom and democratization there.
Speakers
- Wu Renhua (lead speaker): A scholar of historical documents and a witness to the 1989 democracy movement, long engaged in collecting and researching June 4th source material.
- Li Hsin-yuan (李新元) (discussant): Secretary-General of the East Gate Barclay History Education Association and a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at National Cheng Kung University. His research covers the everyday history of old Tainan, Taiwanese social history after 1945, the White Terror, and the documentary history of the Presbyterian Church in Tainan.
- Rev. Chu Chung-hung (朱忠宏) (moderator): Senior Pastor of Taipingjing Maxwell Memorial Church.