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This year has seen hints of regionalization in Asia, not from where you might expect them, such as several years of Lutheran discussion leading to growth in regional implementation, but rather through secular incidents.
The biggest impact to our region was the drastic economic change. The economic situation has brought about various social and political changes in our Asian region, especially during the second half of this year. Beginning with the Thai baht depreciation and collapse of the Thai economy, many neighboring countries were affected: Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong. In October the affects reached South Korea, too. The stockmarket indexes in almost all of these countries decreased drastically.
The sluggish economic growth in Asia also cast shadows on Christian society. One of my friends complained that he could not immediately withdraw funds from an International organization because of new government banking policies. Another friend encountered an enormous loss of funds because of the lost exchange value of his currency against the US dollar.
The environment was another issue which was a concern in our region. The first incident was the Indonesian forest fires; the haze affected others beyond Indonesia's boundaries. Then came the Kyoto Global-Warming Conference in December. That meeting's main concern in the beginning was the "Earth", but later it shifted into an economic battle between the big powers and countries displaying their ego.
This issue also takes a look at regional cooperation being carried out among Christians. We are supporting North Korean people by sending food relief and funds. This is good example that humanitarian relief could somehow go beyond one country's ego. On the other hand, the human rights issues are not so quickly accepted in Asia. In this issue we introduce some discussions regarding freedom of religion in China.
Reviewing the regional issues in Asia, I also found that the role of media is crucial for Asians. Regarding western media's coverage of the HK Handover this past July, some Christian leaders in Hong Kong mentioned that we might be relying too much on a limited number of media perspectives. We might only be receiving biased news reports-reports which blend commercial perspectives with the need to sell more papers and get better ratings on TV. We need to hear and have access to alternative news-news which is based on several different values, even that which sometimes conflicts with what the general populace says about the incidents. The North Korea articles present another showcase of the conflict between media information and the real facts.
I hope the e-mail directory at the end of this issue will help you communicate with each other more smoothly, and will promote more active discussion both in our region and outside Asia.
Many thanks to various contributors and fellow Christians for their work on this issue, and may you and your families have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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