Lap Yan Kung
Biographic Data
| ID | 1099773 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lap Yan Kung |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lap Yan |
| FAMILY NAME | Kung |
| SIGNATURE | KUNG L Y |
| AFFILIATIONS | Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9307-564X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The Paradox of Life, Loyalty and Betrayal
This article examines Shūsaku Endō’s Silence through sociological, theological, and existential lenses, focusing on the paradox of loyalty and betrayal. It argues that apostasy, often viewed as moral failure, can reflect redemptive suffering and solidarity with the oppressed. Drawing connections to the 2019 Hong Kong protests, the study explores how ethical decisions are shaped by context, conscience, and community. Through narrative ethics and t…
Navigating Civic Agency and Civic Space Amid Authoritarian Realities in Myanmar
In recent years, civic space has been deteriorating in many countries in Southeast Asia, and there is an urgent need for a more proactive and mindful civic agency to foster a humane society. Drawing inspiration from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s concept of divine mandate, this paper proposes a public theology within an authoritarian regime, namely Myanmar. It explores divine mandates as essential for protecting civic space, advocates for Christian discip…
Salvation as to Celebrate Life through Initiating a Liberating Course of Karma
This study suggests Christian salvation, as God’s power revealed in the eschaton brought by Jesus’ action in incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection to initiate a liberating course of karma for the blind and visually impaired, is based on a critical challenge to a Chinese version of dis/ableism implicitly and explicitly expressed in a folk belief in paoying (a belief in retribution for what one does) and cán fèi (deformity and uselessness), thu…
Ontological (In-) Security and the Dark Night of the Soul
This study reflects on how Christian political prisoners in Hong Kong utilize their Christian resources to articulate and live with the ontological insecurity caused by incarceration. Hong Kongers consider political prisoners to be sufferers for Hong Kong rather than criminals, an interpretation that corresponds to the Christian notion of redemptive suffering. The Christian political prisoners interviewed in this study see their days in prison as…
A Paradox of Virtue and Vice
Within the context of a deteriorating rule of law and human rights environment (such as in China, Hong Kong and Myanmar), the fundamental concerns of my political theology are to reflect from the p
Parent–Child and Center-Edge Metaphors
This paper examines how the social imaginary of “one country, two systems” is built on the traditional Chinese conception of a parent–child relation. However, the parent–child metaphor is no longer shared by the new generation in Hong Kong. The change of the sociopolitical environment in Hong Kong in the Post-Umbrella Movement demands a new social imaginary for understanding “one country, two systems.” This paper argues that the metaphor of recon…
Human Dignity as a Right and Virtue in Practice
This paper is written to reflect human dignity in practice with reference to the cross removal incidents in China in Zhejiang Province between 2014 and 2016. This paper starts with three questions: How did the Chinese authorities treat Christians? How did Christians respond to what the Chinese authorities did to them? How did Christians view themselves, taking into account the treatment of the Chinese authorities? In contrast with the indignity o…
In Search of True-ness
Seeking for true-ness is the core concern of the people of Hong Kong during the Umbrella Movement. That search starts from the political structure (true universal suffrage), and continues through into the formation of identity (true Hongkongese). This article illustrates how the Umbrella Movement has provided the people of Hong Kong with an experience of a truthful politics which is different from the current realpolitik. It sets out to see Hong …
The Trinity, the Church, and China's Harmonious Society
Taking seriously Karl Rahner's comment that most Christians in their practical life are ‘mere monotheists’, this paper illustrates and argues how the Trinitarian God is better understood within the model of persuasion, and how this understanding of the Trinitarian God may shape what Chinese society may look like, how Chinese churches engage in a harmonious society, and how the Three-Self churches (official churches) and house churches (non-regist…
The Emergence of Exchange Politics in China and its Implications for Church–State Relations
The politics of efficiency characterised by economic growth alone cannot help to strengthen the legitimacy of the Chinese authorities, because people demand justice, equality and rights. The authorities have therefore introduced the politics of equity, in the form of exchange politics, and the ideology of a harmonious society. Under the new political order characterised by exchange relationships it is not an adequate understanding of Chinese reli…
Love Your Enemies
Experiences of being aliens in one’s native land are found everywhere in the world, such as with ethnic groups in Myanmar, Tibetans in China, Palestinians in Israel and others. They are aliens, not only because they have received unfair treatment from the ruling government, but also because they are deprived of participating in the administration of their land. Some of them are even denied being able to learn their languages in their native land.…
National identity and ethno-religious identity
2006). National identity and ethno-religious identity: A critical inquiry into Chinese religious policy, with reference to the Uighurs in Xinjiang. Religion, State and Society: Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 375-391
Politics and religions in Hong Kong after 1997
What to Preach? Christian Witness in China, with Reference to the Party's Policy of Mutual Accommodation
Christians are called to be God’s witnesses wherever they live and work. This is not something optional, but is rather the identity of Christians. Put theologically, a withdrawal from witness signifies a withdrawal from grace rather than from duty. Nevertheless, witness has to be contextualised in order that the Christian witness is a reality instead of a ‘virtual reality’. Therefore, any truthful and relevant account of Christian witness has to …
National identity and ethno-religious identity
2006). National identity and ethno-religious identity: A critical inquiry into Chinese religious policy, with reference to the Uighurs in Xinjiang. Religion, State and Society: Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 375-391
The Emergence of Exchange Politics in China and its Implications for Church–State Relations
The politics of efficiency characterised by economic growth alone cannot help to strengthen the legitimacy of the Chinese authorities, because people demand justice, equality and rights. The authorities have therefore introduced the politics of equity, in the form of exchange politics, and the ideology of a harmonious society. Under the new political order characterised by exchange relationships it is not an adequate understanding of Chinese reli…
Love Your Enemies
Experiences of being aliens in one’s native land are found everywhere in the world, such as with ethnic groups in Myanmar, Tibetans in China, Palestinians in Israel and others. They are aliens, not only because they have received unfair treatment from the ruling government, but also because they are deprived of participating in the administration of their land. Some of them are even denied being able to learn their languages in their native land.…
What to Preach? Christian Witness in China, with Reference to the Party's Policy of Mutual Accommodation
Christians are called to be God’s witnesses wherever they live and work. This is not something optional, but is rather the identity of Christians. Put theologically, a withdrawal from witness signifies a withdrawal from grace rather than from duty. Nevertheless, witness has to be contextualised in order that the Christian witness is a reality instead of a ‘virtual reality’. Therefore, any truthful and relevant account of Christian witness has to …
What to Preach? Christian Witness in China, with Reference to the Party's Policy of Mutual Accommodation
Christians are called to be God’s witnesses wherever they live and work. This is not something optional, but is rather the identity of Christians. Put theologically, a withdrawal from witness signifies a withdrawal from grace rather than from duty. Nevertheless, witness has to be contextualised in order that the Christian witness is a reality instead of a ‘virtual reality’. Therefore, any truthful and relevant account of Christian witness has to …
Politics and religions in Hong Kong after 1997
National identity and ethno-religious identity
2006). National identity and ethno-religious identity: A critical inquiry into Chinese religious policy, with reference to the Uighurs in Xinjiang. Religion, State and Society: Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 375-391
Love Your Enemies
Experiences of being aliens in one’s native land are found everywhere in the world, such as with ethnic groups in Myanmar, Tibetans in China, Palestinians in Israel and others. They are aliens, not only because they have received unfair treatment from the ruling government, but also because they are deprived of participating in the administration of their land. Some of them are even denied being able to learn their languages in their native land.…
The Emergence of Exchange Politics in China and its Implications for Church–State Relations
The politics of efficiency characterised by economic growth alone cannot help to strengthen the legitimacy of the Chinese authorities, because people demand justice, equality and rights. The authorities have therefore introduced the politics of equity, in the form of exchange politics, and the ideology of a harmonious society. Under the new political order characterised by exchange relationships it is not an adequate understanding of Chinese reli…
The Trinity, the Church, and China's Harmonious Society
Taking seriously Karl Rahner's comment that most Christians in their practical life are ‘mere monotheists’, this paper illustrates and argues how the Trinitarian God is better understood within the model of persuasion, and how this understanding of the Trinitarian God may shape what Chinese society may look like, how Chinese churches engage in a harmonious society, and how the Three-Self churches (official churches) and house churches (non-regist…
In Search of True-ness
Seeking for true-ness is the core concern of the people of Hong Kong during the Umbrella Movement. That search starts from the political structure (true universal suffrage), and continues through into the formation of identity (true Hongkongese). This article illustrates how the Umbrella Movement has provided the people of Hong Kong with an experience of a truthful politics which is different from the current realpolitik. It sets out to see Hong …
Human Dignity as a Right and Virtue in Practice
This paper is written to reflect human dignity in practice with reference to the cross removal incidents in China in Zhejiang Province between 2014 and 2016. This paper starts with three questions: How did the Chinese authorities treat Christians? How did Christians respond to what the Chinese authorities did to them? How did Christians view themselves, taking into account the treatment of the Chinese authorities? In contrast with the indignity o…
Parent–Child and Center-Edge Metaphors
This paper examines how the social imaginary of “one country, two systems” is built on the traditional Chinese conception of a parent–child relation. However, the parent–child metaphor is no longer shared by the new generation in Hong Kong. The change of the sociopolitical environment in Hong Kong in the Post-Umbrella Movement demands a new social imaginary for understanding “one country, two systems.” This paper argues that the metaphor of recon…
A Paradox of Virtue and Vice
Within the context of a deteriorating rule of law and human rights environment (such as in China, Hong Kong and Myanmar), the fundamental concerns of my political theology are to reflect from the p
Ontological (In-) Security and the Dark Night of the Soul
This study reflects on how Christian political prisoners in Hong Kong utilize their Christian resources to articulate and live with the ontological insecurity caused by incarceration. Hong Kongers consider political prisoners to be sufferers for Hong Kong rather than criminals, an interpretation that corresponds to the Christian notion of redemptive suffering. The Christian political prisoners interviewed in this study see their days in prison as…
Salvation as to Celebrate Life through Initiating a Liberating Course of Karma
This study suggests Christian salvation, as God’s power revealed in the eschaton brought by Jesus’ action in incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection to initiate a liberating course of karma for the blind and visually impaired, is based on a critical challenge to a Chinese version of dis/ableism implicitly and explicitly expressed in a folk belief in paoying (a belief in retribution for what one does) and cán fèi (deformity and uselessness), thu…
The Paradox of Life, Loyalty and Betrayal
This article examines Shūsaku Endō’s Silence through sociological, theological, and existential lenses, focusing on the paradox of loyalty and betrayal. It argues that apostasy, often viewed as moral failure, can reflect redemptive suffering and solidarity with the oppressed. Drawing connections to the 2019 Hong Kong protests, the study explores how ethical decisions are shaped by context, conscience, and community. Through narrative ethics and t…
Navigating Civic Agency and Civic Space Amid Authoritarian Realities in Myanmar
In recent years, civic space has been deteriorating in many countries in Southeast Asia, and there is an urgent need for a more proactive and mindful civic agency to foster a humane society. Drawing inspiration from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s concept of divine mandate, this paper proposes a public theology within an authoritarian regime, namely Myanmar. It explores divine mandates as essential for protecting civic space, advocates for Christian discip…
Sociology (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Politics (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · China (6 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (5 works) · Theology (5 works)