Taipei, Sept. 20 (CNA) Republic of China President Chen Shui-bian told visiting religious representatives from around the world Thursday that although differences exist in the beliefs and rites of various religions, they share a common goal: the pursuit of harmony and wisdom.
Chen made the remarks while receiving some 40 representatives of 20 religions -- including Buddhism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Shintoism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism -- who were in Taiwan to attend the three-day International Conference on Religious Cooperation that ended Thursday.
The president said that the aim of the conference was to promote mutual understanding among the different world religions and to bolster a feeling of concern and respect for life among the peoples of the "global village."
World peace is not only the wish of the people of Taiwan, but also the common goal that the entire human race should strive for, he added.
However, Chen said, the imbalance between the rich and the poor, the differences in caste and social class, the discrimination among races and people of different skin color are still prevalent throughout the world, leading to all kinds of conflicts and disorder.
Noting that within a brief span of two weeks, Taiwan has witnessed the terrorist attacks on America, has borne the onslaught of a typhoon on the island itself and has received the news that Taiwan will finally be admitted to the World Trade Organization, Chen said that the relationship between person and person, country and country as well as mankind and nature should all be conducted through "cooperation instead of confrontation, harmony instead of conflict."
Because the Republic of China is a part of the international community, the president said, the government and the people must all take on their own responsibilities and play their roles to work together with confidence in stabilizing the environment.
A representative of Islam from Saudi Arabia said that even as the conference on religious cooperation was being held in Taipei, the world was facing a serious conflict of cultures and religions. He said that he hopes mankind can continue to strive toward the highest ideals together through religious cooperation, and that nations and leaders of peoples can resolve the disasters among mankind.
The participants of the conference are slated to hold a ceremony in central Taiwan Friday to pray for the people who died in a devastating 7.3-magnitude earthquake in Taiwan on Sept. 21, 1999, for the people who died in three typhoons that hit Taiwan this year, and for the people who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon or remain missing.