Chun-Ming Kao
Encyclopedia
Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan was planted in Taiwan in the 19th century by Dr James Laidlaw Maxwell Snr of the Presbyterian Church of England and Dr George Leslie Mackay of the Presbyterian Church in Canada....
(PCT). He graduated from Tainan Theological College and Seminary
Tainan Theological College and Seminary
Tainan Theological College and Seminary is a private Presbyterian educational institution in Tainan City, Taiwan. Founded in 1876 by Thomas Barclay, a missionary from Scotland, the seminary is still in operation today.-References:...
, and then studied at Selly Oak Colleges
Selly Oak Colleges
Selly Oak Colleges was a Federation of educational facilities, primarily concerned with theology and social work, in Birmingham, England. The Federation was for many years associated with the University of Birmingham...
in England. He was the General Secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
of the PCT from 1970 to 1989, during which period he became a political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
for assisting participants in the Kaohsiung Incident
Kaohsiung Incident
The Kaohsiung Incident also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident or the Formosa Magazine incident was the result of pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on December 10, 1979....
(1979), in particular Shih Ming-teh
Shih Ming-teh
Shih Ming-te or Shih Ming-teh was a political prisoner for 25-and-a-half years in the Republic of China .He was arrested at the age of 21 in 1962 and charged with creating the "Taiwan Independence League" with the intention of overthrowing the Kuomintang government, Shih was sentenced to life...
. For this he was sentenced for 7 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
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
about the human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
situation in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. After Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the 10th and 11th-term President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan...
was elected President
President of the Republic of China
The President of the Republic of China is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded on January 1, 1912, to govern all of China...
in 2000, Chun-Ming Kao was appointed a Senior Advisor
Senior Advisor
In some countries, a Senior Advisor is an appointed position by the Head of State to advise on the highest levels of national and government policy. Sometimes a junior position to this is called a National Policy 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
Million Voices against Corruption, President Chen Must Go was a mass campaign led by former Democratic Progressive Party leader and Taiwanese politician Shih Ming-te to pressure Republic of China President Chen Shui-bian to resign.-Background:...
’.