Saving children from sexual exploitation
Délèze, whose mother tongue is French, had to learn Chinese from scratch. He recounts with a laugh that in order to learn Chinese pronunciation, he first studied English for three weeks to understand the Yale and Wade‡Giles Romanization systems, but ultimately he learned Chinese using Mandarin Phonetic Symbols (“Bopomofo”). Today he reads local Hualien Chinese-language newspapers every day, and he preaches and holds mass in Chinese, preaching different sermons according to the needs of different congregations, including those in Xiulin and Xincheng. But although Délèze uses Chinese vocabulary when he speaks Chinese, he has a marked Truku accent, and after all these years he still thinks in terms of French grammar.
In 1979 Father Délèze began holding summer camps for young people. In the morning they sing hymns, listen to sermons, and hear mass, while in the afternoon they go hiking in the mountains. This has continued uninterrupted for 40 years.
In the early 1980s, many human traffickers were going into Aboriginal villages in the mountains and tricking indigenous parents into debt, then forcing them to hand over their daughters as collateral. The human traffickers then sold the girls into underage prostitution. In 1982 Father Délèze paid to buy back one girl, but before long she was sold again by her parents. He later hid the girl in his summer camp at Tianxiang, but soon afterward she was once more found by the human traffickers and was sold again.
At a loss what to do, and filled with sorrow and anger, while praying Father Délèze recalled how much Taiwan cares about its international reputation, and thought to use foreign pressure to change things. In September of 1984 he submitted an article to a Swiss newspaper via a friend, and one Sunday the Lausanne-based Le Temps published a front-page report entitled: “Taiwan’s Indigenous People—Sex Slaves.” Wang Shaw-lan, publisher of Taiwan’s United Daily News group, happened to be in Switzerland at the time, and saw the article. The very next Tuesday the United Daily News published this information in Taiwan, causing a public outcry. Reporters descended on Xiulin Township en masse, and soon Christian churches, the women’s rights movement, and local human rights organizations sprang into action, taking steps to rescue child prostitutes from locations such as Taipei’s notorious Huaxi Street red light district.
At that time, Taiwan’s foreign affairs police threatened to have Délèze deported, and pressed him to turn over information. “Although at that time I was very much afraid that I would be expelled, I simply wanted to fight for right and justice, because the values of right and justice must be practiced in daily life!”
The Hsincheng Catholic Church, completed in 1966, has become a spiritual center for local residents. (courtesy of Gabriel Délèze)