Strengthening the Friendly Exchanges withChristian Churches around the World
Christianity is a universal religion， and Chinese Christianity isone part of it. Based on respecting each other"s sovereignty andon the basis of equality， amity and mutual respect， the ChineseChristian churches attach great importance to exchanges withoverseas churches and Christians， as well as the maintenance of good relations withthem. Since the 1980s，the Chinese churcheshave stepped up communications with others in the world，and have been tryinghard to get involved inthe world Christian community. The China Christian Council formally participated in WCC in February 1991， andconsequently tightened its exchanges with world Christianity. Inthe five years between 1991 and 1996， the two Christianorganizations of China sent altogether 108 delegations to over30 countries and regions， selectively attended many internationalChristian conferences held abroad， and received 203 visitingChristian delegations， including many delegations led by theworld class Christian leaders like the then Archbishop ofCanterbury George Carey and his predecessor Robert Runcie，World Council of Churches General Secretary Dr. Konrad Raiser，and the chairman and general secretary of World Association of Lutherans， etc. In the five years between 1997 and 2002， the twoorganizations altogether received 261 Christian delegations and3，301 person-times from different countries and regions aroundthe world， including the U.S. religious leaders delegation invitedby then Chinese president Jiang Zemin， a Lutheran delegationfrom Finland， an Anglican delegation from Australia， etc. Whilecontinuing the exchanges with the U.S. and European Churches，the two organizations also strengthened their ties with churchesin South Korea， Japan， Singapore， Malaysia and otherneighboring countries. Besides， the two organizations also sentmany delegations abroad， for example， in the year 2000， HanWenzao and Cao Shengjie， respectively chairman and vicechairmanof the two organizations， participated in the MillenniumWorld Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders held inthe U.N. headquarters in New York as representatives from China，which demonstrated the Chinese Christians‘ longing for worldpeace. In June 2002， Cao Shengjie led a Chinese Christiandelegation to participated in the Asian Conference on Religionand Peace held in Indonesia， and Deng Fucun led a delegation toparticipate in the World Council of Religious and SpiritualLeaders held in Thailand. In these religious conferences， theChinese Christian leaders called on the religious people in the world to promote the communications between different religionsand cultures， so as to deepen their mutual understanding and toseek the unity and harmony in the process of religiousdiversification.
In the exchanges of the Chinese Christian churches withthose of other countries and regions， as well as their exchangeswith other religions， they have been concentrating on appealingfor justice and peace and maintaining the interests of the country.
On the one hand， they actively develop their relations with thechurches and people of other countries; on the other hand， theyoppose and refute the Western anti-China forces‘ calumny andattacks on China"s religious issues. In September 2000， directed against Vatican"s distortion of history and motive of canonization，the two organizations timely published "An Announcement ofOpposition to Vatican"s Distortion of History and Motive ofCanonization‘。 Directed against some Western countries thatattacked China in the excuse of religious and human rights issues，the major directors of the two organizations also led manydelegations to the U.S.， Switzerland and other countries and metthe Christian people as well as media there to clarify the truthand voice our own opinions， which strongly refuted the attacksand produced sound effects.
China has participated in WTO， and will open to the worldin an all round way. Therefore， the friendly exchanges betweenthe Chinese and overseas churches will surely becoming moreand more frequent. The Chinese churches need the world， andthe world churches need China. During their exchanges with theoverseas churches， the principle of independence will alwaysmaintain at the core to the Chinese churches， in which they willcarry on their cooperation and communication in the new century.
