Kao Chun-ming (; 6 June 1929 in

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...

– 14 February 2019) was a minister of the

Presbyterian Church in Taiwan The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT; ) is the largest Protestant Christian denomination based in Taiwan. The PCT is a member of the World Council of Churches, and its flag features a "burning bush", which signifies the concept of burning y ...

(PCT). He graduated from

Tainan Theological College and Seminary Tainan Theological College and Seminary (TTCS; ) is a private Presbyterian educational institution in Tainan, Taiwan. It is one of three Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) theological schools that trains students for ministry in the PCT, along wi ...

, and then studied at

Selly Oak Colleges Selly Oak Colleges was a federation of educational facilities which in the 1970s and 1980s was at the forefront of debates about ecumenism - the coming together of Christian churches and the creation of new united churches such as the Church of S ...

in England. He was the

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the PCT from 1970 to 1989, during which period he became a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

for assisting participants in the

Kaohsiung Incident The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident, or the ''Formosa Magazine'' incident,tang was a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 10 December 1979 during Taiwa ...

(1979), in particular

Shih Ming-teh Shih Ming-teh (; 15 January 1941 – 15 January 2024), commonly known as Nori Shih, was a Taiwanese statesman and human rights defender. He was once a political prisoner for 25-and-a-half years. Arrested at the age of 21 in 1962 and charged w ...

. For this he was sentenced for seven years in prison, and served his sentence from 1980 to 1984. While he was in prison, his wife Ruth Kao organized groups to help him and raised awareness in the worldwide

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

about the

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

situation in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. After

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian ( zh, t=陳水扁; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progres ...

was elected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

in 2000, Kao Chun-ming was appointed a Senior Advisor to the Office of the President. In 2006 he supported the then-president Chen against his former comrade Shih, who led a movement for a forced resignation of Chen called ‘

Million Voices Against Corruption, President Chen Must Go Million Voices against Corruption, President Chen Must Go (百萬人民反貪腐倒扁運動) was a Taiwanese campaign led by former Chairman Shih Ming-teh of the Democratic Progressive Party to pressure then-President Chen Shui-bian to resign ...

’.

References

External links

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

(2004) ''A Gift Box''. .
The Lord turned my grief to joy.
Address by the Reverend Dr Kao to the general council of the

World Alliance of Reformed Churches The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) was a fellowship of more than 200 churches with roots in the 16th century Reformation, and particularly in the theology of John Calvin. Its headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland. They merged with the ...

, Seoul 1989.
Taipei Times (2001-04-25): Politicians gather to boost new book.
Political heavyweights gathered at a ceremony to launch the memoirs of the Reverend Kao Chun-ming, ''The Path to the Cross: The memoir of the Reverend Kao Chun-ming''.
Taipei Times (2006-09-09): Once comrades, dissidents now share bitter rivalries.
Relationship between Kao and Shih. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kao, Chun-ming 1929 births 2019 deaths Senior advisors to President Chen Shui-bian Taiwanese Presbyterians Taiwanese Christian clergy People from Tainan 20th-century Presbyterian ministers Taiwanese prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Taiwan Taiwan independence activists