K. H. Ting
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Ting Kuang-hsun (Template:Zh-tsp) (born September 1915), is a former Anglican Bishop in mainland China, who is now the leader of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the China Christian Council, the government-approved Protestant church in China. He was an Anglican Bishop in the 1940s and 1950s; as he has not disclaimed his ordination, he is still technically a bishop, although the Anglican Church no longer exists as an institution in China; along with all recognized denominations, it was merged into the Three-Self Patriotic Movement in the 1950s.
Ting has also held a number of political posts. He is a vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and a member of the National People's Congress, China's legislature.
Ting was educated at Shanghai's Saint John's University (1937-1942), and subsequently at Columbia University and at Union Theological Seminary, both in New York (1947 to 1948). He graduated with doctorates in arts and theology.
From 1942 to 1945, Ting was a clerk for the Shanghai YMCA, and from 1946 to 1947, for the Canadian Student Christian Movement. From 1948 to 1951 he served as a clerk for the World Student Christian Federation in Geneva, Switzerland. He went on to serve as General Manager of the Shanghai-based Christian Literature Society for China, from 1951-1980, when he became Chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and President of the China Christian Council, positions he held till 1997.
Human rights activists around the world are divided in their opinion of K.H. Ting. Some see him as a Communist Party stooge and propagandist (he has denied that persecution of religious believers is an ongoing reality in China, a claim disputed by many human rights organizations including Amnesty International). Others consider that he is doing the best he can by working within the system to get the best possible deal for Christians in circumstances that are beyond his control.
External link
- Xinhua biography of KH Ting (http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2002-01/24/content_252407.htm)