Statement on “Laguna Woods Church Shooting" by NATPA

 

Statement on “Laguna Woods Church Shooting" by NATPA

The North American Taiwanese Professors’ Association (NATPA), founded in 1980 and consisting of college professors and professionals in the United States and Canada, expresses serious concern regarding the church shooting that targeted a Taiwanese American congregation on May 15, 2022, in Laguna Wood, CA.  We call for peace and for attention to the hate crime imposed on innocent American citizens.

The NATPA condemns the spread of China’s agenda through violence inflicted on Taiwanese Americans.  According to Orange County Sheriff's Department, the gunman, a Chinese immigrant, was politically motivated by the hatred and violence messages promoted by the China Council for Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (CCPPNR), an organization in which he serves as a leader of its Las Vegas Chapter. The head of its Beijing headquarter, Yang Wang, currently is ranked as the third most powerful out of the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the supreme group chaired by Xi Jinping. Wang also chairs the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.  According to its website, the CCPPR has had a long history of promoting propaganda that favors China by devastating the national interests of the United States and Taiwan.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. John Cheng, a father of two teenagers and a devoted husband, who immediately charged the gunman during the shooting incident. It is particularly heartbreaking that Dr. Cheng's mother lost her husband and son within less than three months. Dr. John Cheng’s sacrificial love will be forever remembered.

The NATPA applauds the wisdom and courage of many Taiwanese Americans on the scene, reflecting the values and noble character of this great country.  The swift and shrewd response by many senior citizens and Rev. Billy Chang stopped the suspect and successfully prevented more deaths. The Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said the gunman used chains to lock doors and tried to glue the locks shut. Additional ammunition and Molotov cocktail-like items were found in bags in the church. 

This shooting incident at a house of worship targeted not just one ethnic group but is a violation of American values that we always defend: freedom, democracy, and human rights. The NATPA calls for the following actions taken:

1.      For law enforcement: Investigate the activities of the China Council for Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification and its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, to prevent politically motivated attacks on innocent people from happening again. 

2.     For lawmakers: Define threatening languages from China against Taiwan or Taiwanese groups and/or individuals by using forces, violence, and military power to promote China’s unification agenda as a hate crime.      

North American Taiwanese Professors' Association

2022.5.19