American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk yesterday expressed condolences on behalf of the US government over a shooting at a Taiwanese church in California that killed one and injured five people — one of many messages of support and condemnation since the incident on Sunday.
Oudkirk called Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) with the message, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, while also posting a statement on the AIT’s Facebook page.
In the post, Oudkirk wrote that she would like to express “our heart-felt condolences to all of the victims and their families of the shooting that took place at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California on May 15.”
Photo: AP
“The law enforcement investigation is ongoing and we commend the exceptional heroism and bravery exhibited by the churchgoers. We are keeping the Taiwanese community affected by this tragedy in our thoughts and wish them peace and comfort during this incredibly difficult time,” Oudkirk wrote.
The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan yesterday held a meeting of its standing committee in Hsinchu to discuss the shooting, at which committee chairman Tai Shuo-kan (戴碩欽) and church director-general Chen Hsin-liang (陳信良) held a moment of silence for John Cheng (鄭達志), 52, who died in the incident.
Cheng, a sports medicine doctor who is survived by a wife and two children, has been hailed a hero for charging at the shooter in an attempt to disarm him, allowing others to intervene.
Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes called Cheng’s action “a meeting of good versus evil” that probably saved the lives “of upwards of dozens of people.”
Johnny Stanton, a fullback for the National Football Association’s Cleveland Browns, wrote on Twitter that Cheng was his primary care physician and an “absolute hero.”
“He attacked the gunman and helped save so many in that church. I just wanted his name to be known. He will be missed,” Stanton wrote.
Baylor University in Waco, Texas, also remembered Cheng as a class of 1991 graduate.
“Dr John Cheng died Sunday, literally taking the bullet for fellow congregants while heroically tackling the gunman at an Orange County church. Please join us in praying for those who knew & loved him,” the university wrote on Twitter.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles Director-General Louis Huang (黃敏境) said that all Taiwanese living in the US are friends and family.
“We all live in a free and open, diverse democratic society with the same goal of building a family,” Huang said. “People with different views have to respect each other. Simply, that’s what democracy is all about. People might hold different views ... but it doesn’t mean they have the right to attack anyone.”
Liu Pengyu (劉鵬宇), spokesman for China’s embassy in the US, told The Assocated Press via e-mail that the Chinese government has “consistently condemned incidents of violence.”
“We express our condolences to the victims and sincere sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured,” Liu said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) wrote on Facebook that “ideology has become a reason for genocide.”
Taiwanese need to “face up to hateful speech and organizations” backed by the Chinese Communist Party, Lin said, singling out the United Front Work Department, which seeks to advance Beijing’s political agenda in Taiwan and among overseas Chinese communities.
Additional reporting by AP
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