Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Three-Day Convention in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Draws About 15,000 Attendees

Jehovah’s Witnesses held a three-day “Eternal Happiness” convention in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, drawing approximately 15,000 participants, according to reports from thehubnews.net and the Central News Agency (cna.com.tw). The Central News Agency report says the convention concluded on Sunday after three days of activities. Thehubnews.net describes the event as an annual convention and part of the organization’s ongoing outreach and community efforts.

The reports differ on the venue. Thehubnews.net places the event at the Kaohsiung Exhibition Hall, while the Central News Agency report names the Kaohsiung Exchange Center.

According to the Central News Agency, attendees included participants from Canada, India and other countries. Delegates from India said they had overcome many challenges to take part in the event in Taiwan. The report does not describe those challenges in detail.

Both reports discuss the economic effect of the gathering. Thehubnews.net says many attendees explored tourist attractions in Kaohsiung City after the conference and estimates the event generated around 200 million new Taiwan dollars in tourism value. The Central News Agency describes the convention as contributing an estimated NT$200 million to the local economy. The reports present the same figure but describe its source in different terms.

The Central News Agency also reports comments from local officials. Shu-hui Wu, Deputy Secretary-General of the Kaohsiung City Government’s Department of Civil Affairs, described the long-standing community concern of Jehovah’s Witnesses as extremely important. Local representative Yifan Wang expressed gratitude for the support of the Kaohsiung City Government. The report also attributes remarks to Chen-lu Lin, Director General of a department it identifies as the Interdor’s Department of Justice and Security Services, but the translated wording is unclear, so those remarks cannot be reliably summarized here.

Finally, the Central News Agency report includes organizational figures from the previous year. It states that Jehovah’s Witnesses reported a loss of more than 6,000 members across what the report describes as the nearest 500 lands, and that 19 international conventions were held in 13 countries.