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By Kent Larsen
Hong Kong Gives Mormons, Others Foot In China's Door
HONG KONG, CHINA -- An AP article today looks at Western religions in Hong
Kong and how they are using the city as an entre into mainland China. The
LDS Church, one of several religions mentioned, is taking a law-abiding
approach, says the article, waiting for mainland China to allow services and
proselyting.
Currently, according to the LDS Church's Cree-L Kofford, President of the
Asia Area, China permits the Church to hold some services in mainland China
for foreigners, but not for native Chinese, even if they have already
converted to the LDS Church elsewhere. "The Chinese government doesn't want
us to," Kofford said. "One of our tenets is we obey the law of the land. We
hope obviously they would see fit to invite us into China." The other
religions mentioned in the article, including the Catholics and some
protestant churches, aren't respecting the Chinese government's wishes.
But Kofford says Hong Kong is the ideal location for the Asia headquarters.
"There is open religious freedom," said Kofford, the church's Asia
president. "We are allowed to proselytize and we do that in Hong Kong. We're
building a lot of buildings here and growing here." In fact, the AP article
reports that the Church owns 20 buildings in Hong Kong, one of the world's
most expensive real estate markets. In spite of the cost, the Church is
expanding its real estate there, building a new 25-story skyscraper near the
Hong Kong district of Wanchai.
Source:
Religion in the News
New York Times (AP) 5Jan01 N1
By Dirk Beveridge: Associated Press
[Submitted by M. Oates]
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