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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

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The Rev. Gene R.Preston

14th Floor, Blk 36,
Lower Baguio Villa
Tel : 25516161
Fax: 25512114

E-mail : gpreston@netvigator.com

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