By Michael Motes

Soft-spoken Sister Maureen Gunning prefers not to enter any type of political discussion. But as a Maryknoll Missionary working in Taiwan, she has viewed first hand the reaction of the natives of that island country to United States recognition of Red China.

She recalls the day that President Carter announced the decision and admits that she was not surprised by the Chief Executive’s announcement, which she heard thousands of miles from her Atlanta home via the Armed Forces Network.

“I received a telephone call from a friend who informed me that the president was about to speak,” she said. “I had recently returned from a meeting of the Maryknolls in the United States and had followed the news of the possibility of opening relations with Red China. In Taiwan, there had been much discussion, so the decision did not take anyone by surprise.”

According to Sister Maureen, the biggest fear among the people of Taiwan is the loss of trade relations with the United States.

“The day President Carter made his announcement, a very good friend came to see me quite upset. He runs a phonograph parts manufacturing company and exports the majority of his products to the States. His reaction was very typical of reaction everywhere -- if trade with this country should be dropped, there would be a drastic effect on the economy.”

Sister Maureen also commented on a state of unrest in Taiwan resulting from the fear of a Communist take-over of the island.

“The Taiwanese are people who have fled from the Communists once and they worry they might have to do it again,” she said. “But they wish to remain simply Chinese, following the ancient ways of China. All Taiwanese consider themselves Chinese, only separated from the mainland.”

Sister Maureen’s association with Taiwan dates back to their first assignment there in 1964. She grew up in Atlanta, where her family moved when she was one year old, and graduated from Christ the King High School. She entered the Maryknoll order in 1951 after working for a year with the Southeastern Underwriters Association.

Following college and receiving her vows, she spent six years as a first grade teacher at a school for Japanese children in Los Angeles. This was followed by a year in Hong Kong studying language prior to arriving in Taiwan.

She has witnessed quite an industrial boom among the inhabitants of Taiwan in a relatively short period of time. In Hsinchu, which means “New Bamboo,” she works with two other Maryknoll Sisters among young people who are part of this “industrial revolution.”

Most of her time is spent at the Catholic Social Service Center, which is directed by Jesuit Father Louis Dowd. The center is a gathering place for young workers, who come together once a week for a meeting based on the “See, Judge, Act” method of the International Young Christian Workers.

But the vast majority of these youth are non-Christian. In a land of 17 million, the total Christian population is approximately two percent, half of which is Catholic.

“Mostly, I sit and listen,” she says of her work as counselor and friend to those who come to the Center. In the evenings and on weekends, she meets young women like Mei Lyan, who works in a ceramics factory by day and studies at night to prepare for a high school equivalency examination.

There are others, like Hwang Jyun Yan, who was paralyzed from the waist down in an industrial accident five years ago. He works, at home, assembling the strings of miniature Christmas tree lights that appear on the U.S. market during the month of December. He gets the equivalent of two U.S. dollars in Taiwan currency when he finishes 80 strings.

Sister Maureen says that the young people come to the Center, “looking for a group to belong to, and a place to spend their free time.”

The aim of the Center is to help young workers support and encourage each other in the increasingly competitive, stress filled environment. Martial law limits what can be done collectively. It forbids strikes and collective bargaining, but the Center is a place where young people can come to a deeper understanding and awareness of their dignity as persons.

Sister Maureen often finds herself deeply touched by the insights these young people share with the group. She tells of one young man, Hsu Hyan Hwei. “Taiwanese women love to go on pilgrimages to Buddhist shrines. A group of women go together, and the outing becomes sort of a picnic,” she says.

Then, explaining that everyone calls Hsu Hyan Hwei “Cola,” she says, “He can talk himself in or out of anything, and the group had begun to think of him as a real ‘operator.’” Then, one evening, he leveled with them.

Cola said, “A mother has four sons. Three are good. One is bad. The mother loves the bad one most. That’s not strange. It’s a mother’s way. It’s the way my mother is with me.”

Sister Maureen says that she felt a sudden wetness in her eyes, as the tough young factory worker went on to tell the group that he had begun to see a change in himself. He rated his improvement at “one, one hundredth per cent.” Then, he went one, “Now my mother can relax a bit. I am not so much of a worry for her. Do you know that yesterday she even went on a pilgrimage?”

Besides sitting and listening to the young workers, Sister Maureen also accompanies them on outings and visits the sick. She says one of the aims of the Center is “to help young people begin to feel responsibility, respect and concern for one another and from that to go out to others.”

It was through the visiting program that two young workers began to visit Mr. Wu, a former member of the local crime syndicate, who had his knees crushed in a motorcycle accident. The two young people work all day, one in a glass factory, the other in a wood carving shop. Helping Mr. Wu meant rushing home from work, getting a bit of supper and staying with him at night in the hospital. Family members usually do this, but Mr. Wu had no family nearby. One evening when Sister Maureen visited the hospital, she met one of the workers carrying Mr. Wu on his back. He had taken him to the shower so he could bathe and wash his hair.

Reflecting on her work as a missioner, Sister Maureen says, “My presence here is two-sided. I believe that it has value for the people I work with. I love the simplicity and sincerity of the young factory workers. I think I help them to see their gifts and to want to help others. The other side of the coin is that my being here has value for me personally. I know that the Chinese people, their ancient culture, their hopes and struggles have affected me, and I really cherish the call to be a missioner.”

Sister Maureen is now spending the summer months with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Gunning, parishioners of Christ the King, where Mr. Gunning is a lector.