Reflection on the Laguna Wood Taiwanese Church Shooting Incident

The Laguna Wood Church shooting incident became a wake-up call for me.  Receiving a text from my sister in Taiwan, informing me that my uncle’s church in California was the target of the shooting was shocking to me.  There are different kinds of hate crimes, usually they are racially motivated in the US context.  However, this one is different.  It is a politically motivated hate crime:  A Chinese man decided to kill the Taiwanese because he hated them.

I am ethnically Taiwanese, and I grew up in a Taiwanese Presbyterian minister’s family.  The Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Taiwan has been active politically to enhance the Taiwanese culture, languages, and identity, and it also strives for Taiwan’s equal standing in the world.  Due to the Chinese government’s threat, the United Nations has not agreed to accept the Taiwanese government’s intention to declare independence.  As you may recall in the Parade of the Nations during the Olympics, Taiwan cannot claim its own name as a country and display its own flag.  But privately, we can have our own government and president, functioning independently from the Chinese government as long as we do not disturb China by declaring our independence.  There is a similarity between what Ukraine is going through with Russia, not being able to join the EU, and what Taiwan is going through with China, not being able to join the UN.

Ever since the Chinese Nationalists fled China and gained the governing power in Taiwan in the 1940s, there has been tension between the Taiwanese, who migrated to Taiwan centuries ago, and the Chinese, who migrated to Taiwan during that period.  The Taiwanese Presbyterian Church has always been supported by the churches around the world for its political effort to speak against dictatorship and seek human rights.  The ministers of my father’s generation risked their lives to speak up when able.  It was not until my family moved to Japan that I learned from my parents the importance of recognizing my Taiwanese heritage and cherishing our languages and culture.  Otherwise, I was taught at school to speak Chinese instead of the Taiwanese language and to claim China back from the communists as my goal.  The danger my parents’ generation faced is reflected in my uncle’s statement that he felt his life was threatened by this shooting incident.  Their lives were threatened before under the autocratic leadership either in Taiwan or outside of Taiwan, and this event brought back the trauma they sustained when seeking freedom for their own people and for their homeland.  This brave generation is now at the twilight of their lives.  I feel the encouragement from them as the next generation coming up to speak up for justice and peace when necessary. 

I am very aware that if not careful, the victims of oppression can become the oppressor.  The gunman in this incident stated that he did not feel welcomed by the Taiwanese when he lived in Taiwan.  When the anger toward injustice is strong, there is a tendency for the oppressed to mistreat those who represent the oppressor or others who seem to be weaker than them.  I was encouraged during our annual conference, watching a panel of minority leaders working together to speak about their experiences and explore another possible world that we can have if we are willing to move a little over to the other side, so we can all meet in the middle.  As my hospital works on celebrating Asian Heritage Month in the month of May, I work closely with the chair of our Asian Heritage Employee Resource Group to spread the news about Asian Americans who have contributed to the United States.  She is from China and I am from Taiwan.  This working relationship has been a learning experience for me.  It requires me to be self-aware: to know the baggage I carry from my history, to know my discomfort, to be open and appreciate the friendship she offers, so we can cross the gulf that our history and politics have created between us. 

My heart grieves with my Korean American friends in Dallas and my African American friends in Buffalo, who also faced the senseless killings recently.  I pray for God to grant us discernment, wisdom, and courage to speak up and take the right actions at the right time.