Factores críticos para el desempeño de la cadena productiva de

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proposed "th a t a J o in t O ffice of th e IMG and WCC be e sta b lish e d in East A sia and th a t China be considered fo r the lo c a tio n of th is o f f ic e " , and th a t " i f p o s s ib le , two s e c r e ta r ie s should be appointed fo r th e J o in t O ffice, someone from th e O rient and th e o th e r m ight be n o n -O rie n ta l" . Leung to ld th e m eeting th a t th e Chinese NCC a lso in v ite d th e J o in t Com­ m issio n to hold th e re g io n a l conference in t h e i r scen ic c ity o f Hangchow. S im ila rly , Manikam rep o rte d f o r th e In d ian NCC:

We hope fo r th e i n s t i t u t i o n o f th e J o in t O ffice a t an e a rly d a te . We f e e l th a t the sooner th e jo in t o ffic e is e sta b lish e d th e b e t te r i t w ill b e. The ta sk o f th i s o f f ic e should be to stre n g th e n C h ris tia n fe llo w sh ip between th e churches o f th e E ast in every p o ssib le way, by v is i t a ti o n , evangelism , e tc . ^

But th e se p ro p o sals did not meet w ith th e approval of th e world

ecum enical le a d e rs p re se n t a t th e m eeting. N e ill c le a rly s ta te d :

The WCC would view w ith an x iety th e form ation of an E ast A sia O ffic e , i f i t were the only one o f i t s kind in the w orld. I t would view w ith su sp ic io n any attem pt a t se g re g a tio n of one group o f Churches from o th e rs . This should be only one of a number o f s im ila r o f f ic e s . ^

I f th i s was indeed the n a tu re o f the WCC’s demand fo r th e e s ta b lis h ­ ment of an o ffic e in E ast A sia, th en th e WCC le a d e rs h ip o f th a t tim e must

be regarded as most d isa p p o in tin g , u n r e a lis tic and unreaso n ab le. N e il l's

e x p lan atio n was c le a r evidence o f th e su sp icio n and d is tr u s t f e l t by th e

world ecum enical le a d e rs h ip . B esid es, what N e ill sa id h ere did not

support what he had said e a r l i e r — th a t a t Whitby th e A sian d e le g a te s them selves feared th a t such an o ffic e m ight se g re g a te th e A sian churches

from th e IMC and th e WCC in th e W est.^ What N e ill said h e re , th e re fo re ,

was a t le a s t an honest adm ission th a t i t was th e ecum enical le a d e rsh ip in th e West who had th i s fe a r and su sp ic io n th a t th e proposed o f f ic e m ight 1. M inutes o f M eeting o f th e J o in t Commission on E ast A sia o f th e

In te rn a tio n a l M issionary Council and th e World Council j>f Church es,

M anila, P h ilip p in e R epublic, February 4, 6 and 1, 1948 (wCc"Library;

Geneva;? PP* 7-9* 2. I b i d . , p. 10. 3* Supra, p. 114-

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develop into a kind o f A sian o r r a c ia l ecum enical b lo c in some s o r t of o p p o sitio n to or com petition w ith the IMC and th e WCC's g lo b a l o b je c t­ iv e s and d e sig n s.

S ig n ific a n tly to o , a t M anila, both N e ill and Decker were very concerned th a t A u s tra lia and New Zealand should be included in th e a re a

o f concern o f th e J o in t Commission. N e ill claim ed, "Any recommendation

to th e IMC and th e WCC w ith regard to th e J o in t O ffice should in clu d e

q u estio n s such a s — Should i t in clu d e A u s tra lia and New Zealand 03? would

i t be w iser to p lan u ltim a te ly f o r two o f f ic e s , South P a c ific and East

A sia?" Decker on the o th e r hand s a id , "Archbishop Mowll of Sidney had

w ritte n ex p ressin g th e opinion th a t A u stra lia and New Zealand should be

so in c lu d e d ." ^ But th e A sian C h ristia n s a t M anila proved th a t they had

a b so lu te ly no in te n tio n o f form ing an anti-W est group. They voted " th a t

th e J o in t Commission would welcome th e in c lu sio n o f A u s tra lia and New

2

Zealand in th e a re a rep resen ted on th e J o in t Commission." But what

was the r e a l in te n tio n behind th is req u est th a t th e se two c o u n trie s should

be included? Weber c o rre c tly observed th a t i t was meant a s a te s t to

d e te c t w hether A sian C h ris tia n s intended to group them selves to g e th e r as

an A sian or r a c i a l ecum enical b lo c .^ But a p a rt from t h i s , Weber m ight

a lso have noted th a t by p la c in g th e se two c o u n trie s in th e concerns of th e J o in t Commission, any tendency or development towards an A sian r a c ia l

bloc might th e re b y be d efused. The same kind of su sp icio n and d is tr u s t

on the p a rt o f th e WCC and IMC le a d e rsh ip were even more e x p lic it in th e m id-1950s when some A sian C h ris tia n s mounted a n o th e r attem pt to fin d

co n crete ex p ressio n s of t h e i r s o lid a r ity in the re g io n . But meanwhile,

a t M anila, th e recommendation o f th e Chinese and th e In d ian NCCs fo r a

1. IMG-WCC J o in t Commission Meet ing Min u te s , Mani l a , 1948, pp. 11 and 4*

2. I b id . , p. 13.

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re g io n a l o ffic e w ith a d m in is tra tiv e r e s p o n s ib ility f a ile d to g et through

th e m eeting. An a lte r n a tiv e recommendation was adopted which read s

as follov/8:

That not l a t e r th an January 1, 1950» a J o in t E astern A sia S e c re ta ria t of th e IMG and th e WCC be s e t up f o r an experim ental period of not le s s than th re e y e a rs . During th e experim ental period th e s e c re ta ry is not to be concerned w ith re g io n a l

departm ental a d m in is tra tio n , but is to give h is tim e to lia is o n work among th e Churches and C h ris tia n C ouncils and a lso to e s ta b lis h in g c lo s e r co n tact th an a t p resen t e x is ts between th e E ast A sian churches and c o u n c ils and th e w orld-w ide movement o f th e Church. At th e s t a r t t h i s S e c re ta ria t need not be burdened w ith a la rg e e stab lish m en t; th e success of th e experim ent w ill depend on th e s e c re ta ry being m obile and e s ta b lis h in g p erso n al c o n ta c ts w ith th e churches and c o u n c ils. The churches and c o u n cils o f East A sia w ill d e s ire to b e a r p a rt of th e fin a n c ia l c o st o f th e E astern A sia S e c r e ta r ia t but in t h e i r p resen t fin a n c ia l d i f f i c u l ­ t i e s i t must be recognized th a t h elp w ill be needed from th e p aren t b o d ies. ^

So i t was th a t a d e c isio n f o r a m obile and n o n -a d m in istra tiv e one- man J o in t E ast A sia S e c re ta ria t was made even b e fo re th e re g io n a l co n fer­

ence was convened. A sian C h ris tia n s were to ld th a t as they could not

a ffo rd to pay, th e f in a n c ia l c o st of th i s o ffic e would have to come from

t h e i r "parent b o d ie s". T h ere fo re , p ressu res were now put by th e

"p aren ts" upon th e d e le g a te s who were coming to a tte n d th e re g io n a l conference a t Bangkok to accept what had a lre a d y been decided a t M anila.

(^) A lim ite d s u c c e s s — Bangkok 1949

At Bangkok, th e su sp icio n o f th e world ecum enical le a d e rs h ip was

la id b a re fo r a l l to see. In h is opening a d d re ss, Manikam h o n e stly

spoke fo r th e IMC and WCC to the Conference:

I t was not w ithout h e s ita tio n on the p a rt o f our p aren t bodies th a t t h i s conference was c a lle d . They were a fra id of reg io n alism in in te r n a tio n a l movements. They were a fra id th a t n a tio n a lis t in te r e s ts might sweep us o f f our f e e t , and th a t we m ight go o f f a t a ta n g e n t, th u s doing irre p a ra b le harm to the

ecum enical movement.