Letter to the editor at Taipei Times regarding ROC Supreme Court ruling on October 1
On October 7, I wrote a letter to the editor at the Taipei Times regarding this photo which accompanied an article written about the recent Republic of China's Supreme Court ruling on Su Beng's involvement in incidents occurring in 2005. Well I just found out that the Taipei Times has published it!
I guess the thrill of seeing what you've written in black and white or online never gets old. Here's the unedited letter I submitted to the Taipei Times:
Dear Taipei Times Editor,
Your October 3, 2009 article, “Court upholds ruling on Su Beng”, states that, “The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that found independence activist Su Beng (史明) guilty of using violence or threatening behavior at a public gathering and other crimes in a 2005 protest against then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan’s (連戰) visit to China. “
It is unfortunate that the ROC Supreme Court ruling seems to characterize Su Beng as man of violent actions.
What I’d like to comment on pertains not so much to the content of this particular article, but to the photograph that accompanies the article and its caption which reads, “Veteran independence activist Su Beng waves a stick inside Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on April 26, 2005, during a protest against then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan’s visit to China.”
Look closely at the photograph and you will see that Su Beng is waving a wooden cane, the wooden cane that he uses to walk with, not a stick that could be misconstrued to be a weapon.
Sincerely,
Felicia C. Lin
Su Beng’s English Biographer
Here is how the letter to the editor at Taipei Times appears at the Taipei Times online: here:http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/10/08/2003455408
The original Taipei Times article that I wrote in response to appears here: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/10/03/2003455055
Photo courtesy of: Liu Hsin-De, Taipei Times
I guess the thrill of seeing what you've written in black and white or online never gets old. Here's the unedited letter I submitted to the Taipei Times:
Dear Taipei Times Editor,
Your October 3, 2009 article, “Court upholds ruling on Su Beng”, states that, “The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that found independence activist Su Beng (史明) guilty of using violence or threatening behavior at a public gathering and other crimes in a 2005 protest against then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan’s (連戰) visit to China. “
It is unfortunate that the ROC Supreme Court ruling seems to characterize Su Beng as man of violent actions.
What I’d like to comment on pertains not so much to the content of this particular article, but to the photograph that accompanies the article and its caption which reads, “Veteran independence activist Su Beng waves a stick inside Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on April 26, 2005, during a protest against then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan’s visit to China.”
Look closely at the photograph and you will see that Su Beng is waving a wooden cane, the wooden cane that he uses to walk with, not a stick that could be misconstrued to be a weapon.
Sincerely,
Felicia C. Lin
Su Beng’s English Biographer
Here is how the letter to the editor at Taipei Times appears at the Taipei Times online: here:http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/10/08/2003455408
The original Taipei Times article that I wrote in response to appears here: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/10/03/2003455055