Su Beng joins a month long march from the southern most tip of Taiwan to the north

On the morning of April 22, Su Beng joined a month long, 504.7 km march from Heng Chun Town, Pingtung County, (which is in the southern most part of Taiwan) to Taipei, the capital up in the north. The group will arrive in Taipei on May 17. The key organizer of the march is the ex-president of the Taiwan Association of University Professors, Professor Tsai Ding-Kuey. Professor Tsai has also formed a group called "Referendum Save Taiwan Union."

Once in Taipei, there will be a 3 day long protest from May 17th to May 20th at the Office of the Legislative Yuan building. The Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan is calling for reform of Taiwan's referendum laws, which currently has unusually high requirements for approval. If you'd like to know more about the requirements of referendums in Taiwan, read this article written by Jerome Keating.

A referendum is needed in order to impeach President Ma Ying-jeou, who many Taiwanese feel is selling out Taiwan's sovereignty with his China friendly open economic policies. More specifically, many are uneasy with the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) proposed by President Ying-jeou.

To learn more about the controversy surrounding the ECFA, read this Taiwan News editorial:

MAC fails to show how ECFA aids Taiwan
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Page 6
2009-04-08 12:37 AM

New "policy explanation" materials on the proposed "economic cooperation framework agreement" between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China released Tuesday by the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council fail to respond sincerely to widespread doubts and concerns about a so-called "ECFA" raised by many economists, domestic industrial associations, labor federations, farmers groups and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party and many Taiwan citizens.

The new 12-page "Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement: A Policy Explanation" and a brochure describing the proposed ECFA as "The Brick to Knock on the Door to Return to the World Stage" evidently aim to defend the "fixed policy" of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) government of President Ma Ying-jeou.

Instead of being "a brick to knock on the door to return to the world stage," many Taiwan citizens are deeply concerned that an ECFA will lock our economy into an "one China market," further isolate Taiwan from the world economy and undermine its economic and political autonomy, competitiveness, employment and social equity.

Unfortunately, the MAC's so-called "policy explanation" takes a key step away from rational discussion for consensus by describing the objections raised to the ECFA or CECA concepts by numerous economists, professionals and former leading government officials, including DPP Chairwoman and ex-MAC minister Tsai Ing-wen and Taiwan's first permanent representative to the WTO Yen Ching-chang, as merely "misunderstandings and even distortions."

Not surprisingly, neither the pamphlet or the brochure respond to the main doubts raised about this policy with more than slogans or outright omission.

A glaring example is the section entitled "Whom Will Benefit from ECFA Whom Will Be Hurt" that only lists how an ECFA will benefit "exports and employment," "the rights of Taiwan businesses" in China and even "weak industries" and makes no mention whatsoever of whose interests will be disadvantaged.

Actually, there are perfectly reasonable grounds for dissent from the pamphlet's prime assumptions, such as an ECFA is necessary to overcome the "the greatest challenge facing the Taiwan economy," which it identifies as "the grave threat to Taiwan's export competitiveness," and therefore its touted prescription.

The MAC prescribes an ECFA as the cure to avoid "the threat of marginalization" from the regional trade arrangements between the Association of Southeast Nations and the PRC and Japan and South Korea and the path to "turn crisis into opportunity" by consolidating the stake of Taiwan businesses in the China market, which already absorbs 40 percent of our exports and most of our offshore direct capital investment. But other professional economists believe that the greatest threat to Taiwan's export competitiveness and dynamism lies precisely in our over-exposure in the PRC economy and the resulting replacement of "Made in Taiwan" goods in international markets by cheaper products made in China by "Taiwan businesses" attracted to the PRC by a matrix of unfair competition measures, trade barriers and subsidies and artificially low production costs and wages maintained in part by state suppression of autonomous trade unions.

In this case, an ECFA would boost Taiwan investment and trade into the PRC and therefore exacerbate the decline of Taiwan's own exports, bleed even more private investment or private consumption out of our economy and leave our remaining domestic manufacturing, service and agricultural producers vulnerable to the importation of PRC unfair competition into our domestic market.

If cross-strait relations have improved as much as the MAC claims, what the KMT government should first raise with Beijing are demands for the PRC government to cease unfair subsidies and other measures aimed at inducing the transfer of Taiwan's manufacturing and service industries to the PRC as well as demanding that Beijing end the blockade that it has imposed on FTA or RTA talks between Taiwan and third countries.

However, such "controversial" items are absent from the ECFA agenda as outlined by the MAC, whose pamphlet also fails to respond to challenges to outdated "forecasts" about an ECFA's costs as well as benefits.

The MAC "policy explanation" also fails to provide any guidance on what Taiwan can do to avoid "marginalization" if the PRC fails to reciprocate Taiwan's goodwill and maintains its overt and covert blockade against our negotiating FTAs with third countries.

Even more questionable is the MAC's persistence in claiming that an EFCA "has no political preconditions" and will not "denigrate sovereignty" in the face of the ironclad declarations by PRC State Chairman Hu Jintao that any cross-strait economic cooperation will take place only under the framework of Beijing's "one China principle," which posits that Taiwan is part of the PRC.

In sum, the doubts of many Taiwan citizens on the wisdom of a ECFA and on its possible details, negotiation process and political, economic and social costs merit more than such a pollyannaish "policy explanation" in response.

The MAC and the rest of the KMT government need to do take seriously the requirement of policy transparency in a democratic and engage in serious public dialogue and debate that can lead to a genuine consensus on Taiwan's best path to ensure the revitalization of our economy.

Su Beng on the future of Taiwan

Michael Richardson of the Boston Progressive Examiner recently conducted this cyber-interview with Su Beng.

Examiner Exclusive: Interview with Taiwanese historian Su Beng on future of island
April 25, 10:38 AM
By Michael Richardson

Su Beng's classic political history of Taiwan, titled Taiwan's 400 Year History, recognizes that there has been continual resistance to colonial rule during the 400 years covered in his book and that has been the focus of his work.

Su Beng is the first native Formosan to publish a history of Taiwan and his book, available in Chinese, Japanese, and English, is still considered a landmark work in the history of the island.

Su Beng's contribution to the literature of Taiwan followed his days as a revolutionary activist who sought to overthrow the Republic of China in-exile and his own exile to Japan during decades of ROC imposed martial law.

Fortunate to have escaped the secret police of Chiang Kai-shek and avoided execution or imprisonment, Su Beng began writing on Taiwan from his noodle shop in Japan. These days the revered author lives a quiet life and rarely grants interviews. My recent examination of the political status of Taiwan and subsequent review of Su Beng's book gained me an exclusive cyber-interview.

What is your opinion of the latest "two systems" version of the "one China" policy?

"Taiwan and China have experienced different histories and social structures; the 'two system' policy is the first step toward unification which is definitely not the right trend for Taiwan's future."

What is your opinion of the Ma Ying-jeou administration?

"The Ma Ying-Jeou regime considers maintaining political power and economic interest as his highest priority, so he does his best to keep close contact with the CCP."

What is your opinion of the United States current role in Taiwan affairs?

"For the benefits of both Taiwan and the US, the United States has an obligation to support Taiwan when there is a tension or even war between Taiwan and China."

What can American citizens do to help Taiwan?

"I highly wish common American citizens can realize clearly that Taiwan and China are different nations. And I hope that the United States government can help Taiwan to not be merged (unified) by CCP's political and military power."

What can Taiwanese people do to help get self-determination?

"Taiwanese must emphasize self-defense and the will to self-determination, and the people of Taiwan shall work harder to move toward this goal politically."

Is there any important information in the Chinese edition of your book that was excluded from the English edition that readers should know?

a. How KMT governs Taiwan by the “military spy” system.
b. How ex-president Chiang Ching-kuo ( president Chiang Kai-shek’s son) governed Taiwan by the above “military spy” system.
c. From 1951~1965, the US supported Taiwan 4 billion USD. This was very important for Taiwan’s economic kick-off.
d. The actual colonial fighting with KMT regime in the past 50 years by Taiwanese people. (Taiwanese were not just satisfied with economical improvement, but also fought for political rights)
e. The international political status change of Taiwan after World War II.
f. The influence of US, China, and Japan on Taiwan.
g. CCP’s historical development and the policy on Taiwan.
h. How ex-president Lee Deng-Hui governed Taiwan.

Future interviews with Su Beng will explore the missing history cited above and his escape from the Chinese to Japan after his plot to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek was discovered.

New Angles

Lately, I feel like I've been doing a lot more talking and explaining about Su Beng- more than ever before. I suppose that I've been getting out there more lately- networking and socializing, trying to keep a balance in life. I've also started looking for a job since I had only saved up enough money to take a year off for this project. I've also started talking to people who work in the publishing industry to get some general advice and an idea of how the publishing industry works. No major deals are in the works just yet. I'm just trying to educate myself and to think ahead about what needs to be done, how to get it done, trying to understand the role of one's agent and editor, and how to protect my interests. Also in the works is the process of understanding how to write grants in order to fund raise money for future projects.

What's interesting is how in the midst of some these recent conversations (some of them not so "high powered")- new ideas and angles have come to me.

Usually I'm asked, "How did you get started on this project? How did you hear about Su Beng?" So my standard answer to these questions goes something like this: When I was in Taiwan I read this article written by Su Beng which had been translated into English. I was curious about him after having read this article, so I asked my Mom if she knew who this person was and if he was a well-known person in Taiwan. She told me that he had spent 7 years in China working for the Chinese communists- at which time he had elected to get a vasectomy before the age of 30 in order to remain committed to the cause of being a revolutionary, and had written Taiwan's 400 Years of History. And something about his story captivated me. I wrote about that in detail here.

On a recent road trip, with a few hours of driving ahead of us, my friend, who was not very familiar with my work on documenting Su Beng's life asked me quite simply and directly, "Why? Why or how did you decide to write about the person who's biography you're working on now? Why him and not someone else?"

I thought about it and gave him an answer very different answer from my "standard" answer. The question that he had put to me seemed more like a challenge; a challenge to justify why I had decided to work on documenting this man's life. Unlike most people who ask me about Su Beng- I feel they are looking for a factual answer or an account of how this project evolved for me.

I think that the way I answered my friend's questions reveal what it is about Su Beng that sets him apart as a man of substance, the ideal person through which to tell the story of Taiwan. So I thought I'd paraphrase my thoughts and answers to my friend's questions (with some explanations added for clarification) here:

To me Su Beng is significant because he is one of the earliest people to have fought for the cause of Taiwan independence. He is someone who has not veered from his ideals or become corrupt by power over the years. There have been some political activists, who have entered mainstream politics and have somehow become corrupt by power or personal interest. Some have changed their stances along the way. And some would say that this has happened to the first directly elected president of Taiwan Lee Teng-hui and to some extent, also to the man who ran against Lee Teng Hui as the Democratic Progressive Party's presidential candidate, Peng Ming-Min (who wrote the "Declaration of Formosans", calling for a new democratic constitution and Formosan independence in 1964). I am not implying any charges of corruption on these two men but one cannot help but compare each of these three men's contributions to, stances on and involvement in the Taiwan independence movement.

Su Beng has always been very Marxist and socialist in his approach. He has always been very idealistic and yes perhaps he's been able to maintain this because he made certain choices very early on, that he wanted to work outside of the system, that he didn't want to run for an elected office, that he didn't want to work within the Republic of China framework and that he wanted to reform the system.

My friend also asked me, "What did he do/what has he done for Taiwan? What is he doing now?"

Well he was one of the first native Taiwanese to write about Taiwan's history from a Taiwan-centric point of view. Before that, Taiwan was always written about as, or considered to be a part of China or Chinese history. His book "Taiwan's 400 Years of History" influenced a generation of intellectuals who began to see and realize that Taiwan had its own unique history and culture, it made them think about what Taiwan was and what it meant to be Taiwanese and have a Taiwanese identity.

He has spoken publicly and given lectures educating people about Taiwan and its unique history and past. As a Marxist/socialist, he has always believed in grassroots movements, so it is not surprising that much of his following are taxi drivers.

When Su Beng returned to Taiwan in 1993 he established the Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade, which I wrote about here:

The Taiwan Independence Action (獨立台灣會) motorcade has been making its rounds every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, for more than 10 years, since April 1994. Since returning to Taiwan in 1993, Su Beng has cultivated a grass roots following amongst taxi drivers and in 1994 Su Beng began organizing a group of taxis and trucks that form the weekly Taiwan Independence Action motorcade. On those afternoons, Su Beng himself would stand on a truck painted taxi cab yellow, with the words “獨立台灣會” or “Taiwan Independence Action” emblazoned on the side; he would speak over a megaphone and there would also be about 10 taxis in the procession. For nearly 2 hours, they would make their rounds around Taipei city and Taipei county.

Now, others in lieu of Su Beng have taken up the cause of delivering messages over the megaphone. To paraphrase, their messages are that: the Taiwanese must throw off the shackles of post-World War II colonization to become a normal country, and the Taiwanese need to stand up for themselves and Taiwan. Taiwan should be independent. The Republic of China is not the Taiwanese people's country.

Later on, my friend and I also got into a discussion of Taiwan's international status. I explained how the Republic of China (ROC) was one of the founding UN members, but that after the Chinese Communist Party took over control of China as the People's Republic of China (PRC), the US and UN switched diplomatic recognition from the ROC to PRC in 1971. I explained that Taiwan was part of the Chinese empire in the Qing dynasty (1683 to 1895) , but that it was regarded as some backwater island in the middle of no where full of barbarians... how the Dutch (1624-1662) and Portuguese had been in Taiwan in the 1600s... that Koxinga a Chinese pirate had ruled the island after the Dutch... then in the first Sino Japanese war, Taiwan was given up to Japan in 1895 and occupied by Japan for 50 years until Japan surrendered to the allied forces at the end of World War II. In the process Japan gave up to claim to Taiwan, but it was never clearly stated in whose custody Taiwan would be left.

When the Nationalist Chinese party aka Kuomintang party (KMT) fled to Taiwan in the late 1940s, General Douglas MacArthur did not stop them. The KMT was basically the ROC government in exile that had fled to Taiwan. Their intention was to be in Taiwan temporarily as they plotted to take back the motherland, i.e. China. During their authoritarian rule over Taiwan, they systematically brainwashed and reeducated the Taiwanese to speak Mandarin and believe that they were Chinese.

My friend and I also talked about the Taiwan Relations Act, Taiwan's importance as an ally and a part of the US' strategic line of defense in the Pacific rim and, I explained how Taiwan does not have any official embassies or consulates in other countries, nor do other countries have embassies or consulates in Taiwan. But Taiwan does however have "cultural/economic" offices in the US and Canada which function like an embassy would, and in turn the US has something called the AIT aka American Institute In Taiwan, there is a British Trade and Cultural Office and a Canadian Trade Office in Taipei- all of which provide embassy-like services in Taiwan.

Such is the complicated, convoluted status of Taiwan.

If you'd like to know more about Taiwan's political situation, Michael Richardson of the Boston Progressive Examiner has recently written extensively about Taiwan's "political purgatory" in a 5 part article here: http://www.examiner.com/x-1969-Boston-Progressive-Examiner~y2009m4d6-Roger-CS-Lin-vs-United-States-A-lawsuit-to-change-the-course-of-Taiwans-history-1-of-5

Taiwan's 400 Year History reviewed on Examiner.com

Last week I was very excited when I was contacted by Michael Richardson of the Boston Progressive Examiner. He told me that he was writing an eight part review of the English language version of Su Beng's book Taiwan's 400 Year History. The abridged English version is around 150 pages long, just a fraction of the Mandarin Chinese language version, which in its most recent form consists of 3 volumes; the first volume is over 700 pages, the second over 180 pages and the third is over 1500 pages long. Unfortunately, I can't read Chinese well enough, so I myself haven't read the Chinese language version of Taiwan's 400 Years of History. I have always thought that it would be wonderful if someday, someone would do a complete translation of the Chinese language version of the book into English or other languages.

Here is Mr. Richardson's first book review article:

Book Review: Taiwan's 400 Year History--author Su Beng (1 of 8)
March 13, 4:02 PM
By Michael Richardson

Su Bing is the pen name of Si Tiau-hui and means "history clearly" in the native Hoklo language. Commonly known as Su Beng throughout Taiwan, Bing is the spelling used in the English translation of his classic history book, Taiwan's 400 Year History. Born November 9, 1918, in Su Lin Town in Taipei, Su Beng attended college in Japan at Waseda University.

Su left Japan in 1942 and joined forces with the Chinese Communists. Su eventually became disillusioned with the totalitarianism of the Communist Party and in 1949 returned to the land of his birth where he quickly became active in the Taiwan independence movement.

In 1952, Su founded the Taiwan Army Corps and began stockpiling weapons to overthrow the regime of Chiang Kai-shek. After the plot was discovered Su had to flee to Japan as a stowaway to avoid capture and execution.

Su Beng opened a popular noodle shop to pay the bills while he continued his activism. Su began work on the history of Taiwan while he also indoctrinated visitors to his shop on Taiwan independence.

In 1962, the Japanese version of the book was published in Japan. In 1980, a Chinese version was published in the United States. The Chinese edition is in three volumes and is over 2,400 pages in length. An abridged English version was published in 1986. The book was banned in Taiwan under Kuomintang martial law that brutally controlled the island for decades.

Journalist Jack Anderson suggested the use of Bing rather than Beng to make it more friendly to American readers. Anderson gave a dedication to the book, "Truth and wisdom will free all people living on Taiwan."

Su Beng made clandestine trips to Taiwan risking his life to promote the independence movement. Su also became an international speaker with trips to the United States and South America to meet with Taiwanese expatriates following the publication of his book.

The book, the first history of Taiwan by a native Taiwanese author, has been hailed as a classic work of the island's political history. The tone of the writing reflects Su's early Marxist days but has been widely acknowledged as an objective historical work despite its pronounced perspective.

After martial law was lifted and Su Beng could return to Taiwan without facing arrest, the tireless champion of independence returned from his 40-year exile in 1993. Su Beng, now 90, lives in Taipei where he continues to speak out for self-determination, democracy and independence.

Because Su Beng's book was long suppressed and now is out of print, many are not familiar with his work. In the public interest of being better informed about Taiwan and its unresolved international legal status, a special Examiner multi-part book review covering the key points of Su Beng's research follows.

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Here are my comments on Mr. Richardson's article:

Thank you so much for shedding some light on Taiwan and Su Beng's book "Taiwan's 400 Year History." This is one of the most accurate English language articles that I have seen written about Su Beng.

As his English biographer, there are two things mentioned in this article that I'd like to clarify:

1) The "visitors" to the noodle shop, that Su Beng indoctrinated were most likely invited and special arrangements were made for them to travel from Taiwan to Japan to meet with and be trained by Su Beng.

2) Regarding what you have written here: "After martial law was lifted and Su Beng could return to Taiwan without facing arrest, the tireless champion of independence returned from his 40-year exile in 1993." This is not entirely correct. When Su Beng returned to Taiwan from Japan in 1993, he had made one of his clandestine trips from Japan to Taiwan and news of his return was somehow leaked out and so he was actually arrested in Tainan somewhere on the highway while he was in a car driving from Kaohsiung to Chiayi bound for Ilan. He was charged and appeared before a judge. There are several outstanding charges against Su Beng, which are quite complex for me to explain here, but interestingly, he has never served a day in a prison for any of them.

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You can read parts 2-8 of Mr. Richardson's book review here:

Book Review: Taiwan's 400 Year History--Taiwan's aborigines (2 of 8)

Book Review: Taiwan's 400 Year History--Dutch imperial mercantilism (3 of 8)

Book Review: Taiwan's 400 Year History--Chinese feudal aristocracy (4 of 8)

Book Review: Taiwan's 400 Year History--Japanese imperialism (5 of 8)

Book Review: Taiwan's 400 Year History--Chiang 'secret agent' regime (6 of 8)

Book Review: Taiwan's 400 Year History--Taiwanese revolutionary movements (7 of 8)

Book Review: Taiwan's 400 Year History--Present tasks of the Taiwanese people (8 of 8)

The reluctant biographer

I was recently asked by the New Greater New York Region- Overseas Taiwanese Pen Club to speak about Su Beng and the work that I have been doing to write his biography.

I've decided that my talk will be about my experiences as Su Beng's biographer. And so this has made me think back to how I evolved into this role of being Su Beng's biographer. I am most certainly not a historian, professional academic or expert on Taiwan. And I certainly didn't set out to be a biographer. At first I resisted and then for a long time I didn't completely accept myself in this role.

For years, I've thought about someday taking a stab at writing- perhaps something fictional, in the historical fictional genre, a novel, perhaps something about Taiwan. When I heard about Su Beng there was something about his perseverance, determination, and idealism that gripped me. I had this feeling that it was a story that just had to be told. I saw seeds for a novel, and endless possibilities for the telling and retelling of this story, even adaptations of it in various forms. I had in all this mind when I approached him. Little did I know what I was in store for.

In the beginning I simply asked Su Beng if I could meet with him, if he'd give me a bit of his time to tell me his story. It started off as a series of interviews that I fit in around my teaching schedule. I'd been teaching English full-time in Taiwan for about three years when I took on this project. So I'd make trips up to Taipei from Kaohsiung on the weekends with my digital audio recorder and video camera in tow to talk to Su Beng about his life and adventures. As I started to dig into the details of this man's life, people close to me asked why I didn't just write his life story. I resisted, in fact I didn't even want to consider the idea. I just wanted to write something creative, inspiring and fictional. I didn't want to be known as a biographer. I didn't want to get sidetracked from my original plan to write a fictional novel and ideas for fictional adaptations.

But as time went on, I was clearly becoming increasingly absorbed in the details of this man's life. I blame it on my penchant for details and thoroughness. Finally, after about six months of talking to Su Beng, I realized that I was already well on my way to documenting this man's life, this man who is a living piece of history. So I surrendered and accepted the responsibility. I told Su Beng that I would like to write his biography in English and asked his permission to be his English biographer. He of course agreed.

But for a long time after wards, I felt uncomfortable calling myself a biographer since I didn't feel qualified to claim myself as an expert on any of this. I didn't completely embrace or claim this role. I am perhaps the most "unsuitable" or unlikely of people to take on such a project- an American born Taiwanese woman, who only speaks Taiwanese fluently enough for conversation, but not as fluently as a native speaker, someone was not an expert on Taiwan's or Asia's history. What does it mean to be someone's biographer? Su Beng and I don't exactly have a formal contract or agreement, but a mutual understanding and by now, a good working relationship.

It wasn't until I read the Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley, I realized what it takes to be a biographer- the commitment and responsibility.

So after starting to talk to Su Beng, I ended up in Taiwan three more years, meeting with Su Beng outside of my full-time teaching job. All the while, amassing hours upon hours of audio and video recorded interviews.

Another thing I resisted along the way were suggestions to establish some sort of a foundation for my project in order to do fund raising. The resistance was partly because I didn't want to deal with all of the logistics and in the beginning it didn't cost that much- just my travel expenses between Kaohsiung and Taipei, and the video recording equipment- i.e. lots and lots of miniDV tapes.

All of this research was piling up and I knew that I'd have to reckon with it eventually. In 2007 I decided that I would leave my teaching job in Taiwan. I had started to feel stagnant and unchallenged and I knew that I needed to take some time off to translate and organize everything I'd collected for the biography. Fortunately I'd managed to save something from my teaching job over the years, so I decided to take a year off to focus on the biography. It has been a tremendous challenge and at times an uphill battle. I think I am coming through the worst of it- which has been the translation and organization of data collected thus far.

When I loose focus and motivation, I look at what this man has accomplished in his life, his personal trials and tribulations, and enduring spirit, and somehow I'm able to press on.

How it all got started (Part II)

….continued from here

So after reading the Taipei Times article, I wondered about the author. As I sat in the living room of my parent’s Kaohsiung apartment, I turned to my Mom, who always seems to be in the know about people in Taiwan and Taiwan’s current events, and asked if she knew who he was. It turns out she did.

She told me that Su Beng had spent several years in China working with the Chinese Communists and had participated in the Long March*, that he voluntarily elected to have a vasectomy before the age of thirty in order to remain committed to the life of a revolutionary, and that he wrote the mammoth book, Taiwan's 400 Years of History.

I was intrigued.

There was something about Su Beng's life story that gripped me- there was an intrepidity, tenacity and idealism. For days and weeks, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I knew that I had to meet him. I had a feeling that this could be big; it could be epic; that there was a story here to tell and that this was the story I was meant to write about.

Now the exact details and sequence of events that followed are already kind of hazy in my memory.

One day I just asked my Mom if there was some way that she could put me in touch with Su Beng. I'm still not sure what made me think that I could do this, that I could just ring up Su Beng and expect him to agree to pour out all the details of his life.

At some point in all of this, my Mom must have mentioned that there was a relative who knew Su Beng and had kept in touch with him.

In the 80s Su Beng had come to Ottawa, and someone in the Taiwanese Canadian community had contacted my maternal grandfather asking if he knew this person (Su Beng) from Shih Lin. This was not long after Su Beng had written the Chinese language version of Taiwan's 400 Years of History. Though the encyclopedic volume was selling for around one hundred Canadian dollars (which quite a pretty penny in those days), my grandfather encouraged each his five grown children to purchase a copy of Su Beng's Chinese language version of "Taiwan's 400 Years of History" for their families.

All at once I had this unshakeable feeling that I HAD to pursue this story. Looking back on this, I had a certain naivety about what I was about to take on. On the other hand, I had also let my imagination run wild with ideas, which had only convinced me more that I had to do this.

It is amazing how fast things become a "fiction" if memory doesn’t serve you. This further reinforces in me why it is so important to document history in a timely, accurate fashion.

*It turns out that Su Beng did not participate in the Long March, as I’ve explained here: http://aboutsubeng.blogspot.com/2007/05/deciphering-fact-from-fiction.html

Diaoyutai: secret passage to Taiwan

The Diaoyutai islands were not always such a hotbed of controversy, in fact, they were a sort of loophole.

After the Kuomintang authorities discovered Su Beng's involvement in a plan to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek, he fled from Taiwan to Japan. Taiwan was under strict martial law, so in order to get out of the country Su Beng stowed away, for several days, in a boat exporting bananas to Japan.

During the 40 years (from 1952-1993) that Su Beng was exiled in Japan, he managed to illegally enter Taiwan a few times via the Diaoyutai islands. How did he do it? With a bit of planning and the help of his underground "Taiwanese gangster" connections, he first traveled to Okinawa; making his way to the unclaimed Diaoyutai islands; there he got on a Taiwanese fishing boat going back to Taiwan. His earliest "trip" back to Taiwan was in 1967 and the last one, was in 1993.

Clearly, 40 years of exile in Japan didn't put a dent in his work for Taiwan's independence. In fact it was quite the contrary.

In those 40 years he was among the first to bring the authentic taste of Northern Chinese style fried noodles and dumplings to Japan. It was a huge success; in a just few years he went from running a humble food stall to purchasing a building which served as a noodle shop, personal residence and underground revolutionary training center. Activists from Taiwan were invited stay at the noodle shop where they were secretly trained by Su Beng. Su Beng had reestablished contact with underground activists in Taiwan, many of whom were probably associated with the Taiwan Independence Armed Corps. He had formed this group in 1950 after returning to Taiwan from China. The group stockpiled weapons and kept surveillance over Chiang Kai-shek; their ultimate goal was to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek. The noodle shop's earnings were funneled back into Taiwan to support the underground Taiwan independence movement.

Of course one of his greatest accomplishments during those 40 years of exile was the research and writing of Taiwan's 400 Years of History. Much of the research for the Japanese language version (which came first) was readily available in Japanese public libraries. But in order to get accurate facts, statistics and data for the Chinese language version, bribes were paid and documents were smuggled out of Taiwan to Japan. Even before Su Beng was able to publish the book, Kuomintang authorities tried to stop Su Beng by trying to buy the publishing rights from publishers of the book. Today Taiwan's 400 Years of History is still considered to be the one of most complete and accurate records of Taiwan's history and facts of its time.

Diaoyutai of Taiwan or Senkaku of Japan?

Recently, the sovereignty of the Diaoyutai islands (as they are known in Mandarin Chinese), aka Senkaku (as they are known in Japanese) have been in the headlines and at the center of controversy in Taiwan.

A few months ago I spoke to Su Beng about his opinions and involvement with the Diaoyutai issue. Back in 1971, Su Beng, along with the Association for Taiwan Independence, supported the idea that Diaoyutai should be considered a territory of Taiwan. They also protested the Okinawa Return Agreement between America and Japan, which would incorporate the islands as Japanese territory. Even before World War II, Taiwanese fishermen fished near the Diaoyutai islands and during the Japanese occupation period of Taiwan, the Diaoyutai islands were under the jurisdiction of Taipei Prefecture. Su Beng has said that the disputed Diaoyutai islands is an international issue that must be discussed and negotiated between all the countries that want to lay claim on the islands, which include Taiwan, Japan, China and Korea.

I came across this website, which has an excellent explanation of the history of the Daioyutai movement in Taiwan, what basis Taiwan has for claim on the islands and how China's claims fit into the picture: http://www.twhistory.org.tw/20010423.htm

So what caused the recent uproar over the Diaoyutai islands in Taiwan?

On June 11, a Taiwanese fishing boat collided with a Japanese coast guard vessel near the Diaoyutai islands. Since then, there has been a lot of finger pointing. The Kuomintang government has accused the Japanese vessel of intentionally sinking the Taiwanese fishing boat. On the flip side, the Japanese charge that the Taiwanese fishing boat illegally entered its waters. An initial report about this incident appeared here in the Taipei Times: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/06/11/2003414420

The Kuomintang government blew the situtation out of proportion; Premier Liu Chao-shiuan even said that he wouldn't rule out going to war over this: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2008/06/14/2003414673


For more on the recent Diaoyutai dispute read: http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=674685

http://johnibiii.wordpress.com/category/diaoyutai/

At Su Beng's on May 21, 2008

When I arrived at Su Beng's residence, his assistant, Bin Hong, told me that my uncle, Dr. Lai, would be stopping by a bit later to make a house call. I wasn't completely surprised, however, I do know that my uncle usually has a pretty busy schedule, so he must have made time to actually make this house call. And since his house call happened to coincide with my visit with Su Beng, it was really great timing.

Usually Su Beng and I talk in his living room, but on this day he was too weak to walk or stand for long, so I walked upstairs to the second floor of his apartment, which is where his study and bedroom are. When I did see him, he seemed a bit weak, but lucid. We met in his study in which there was his writing desk, book shelves, and a guest bed, which hasn't been used by a guest in quite some time. Every time I've seen this room the bare mattress on the bed has been strewn with piles of documents and books. This is the room where Su Beng does his writing.

He told me, as he has several times before, that he appreciated all of the personal time and effort that I've spent working on his biography. He showed me some documents that I'd requested of him. Then his assistant, Bin Hong and I talked about how she'd transfer these documents to me online, once I was back in New York. Our meeting was short, and nothing like our usual day long interviews which start at 10 am and end around 3 pm.

My uncle arrived with his classmate, who's also known Su Beng for years; his father knew Su Beng's father. Su Beng slowly made his way down the stairs to the living room with some assistance. Dr. Lai listened to Su Beng's vitals and tested his reflexes. They talked about his symptoms and how he's been feeling- sweats and chills, some weakness in his legs and pain and soreness in his neck and shoulders. Dr. Lai said that Su Beng appeared to be in good health, but recommended that he get a full physical exam at the Taiwan University medical center.

Su Beng returned to Taipei from a visit to look in on his noodle shop in Tokyo in late February. Since then, he has been going nonstop. In the lead up to Taiwan's presidential elections on March 22, he traveled around the island reaching out to undecided voters, especially those in remote areas outside of city centers, just to get a sense of where they were coming from. I wrote about his views on Taiwan's presidential election here. Bing Hong and Dr. Lai think that Su Beng has probably been overextending himself. Dr. Lai's classmate offered to recommend a good geriatrics doctor at the Taiwan University medical center for Su Beng.

Since I've returned to New York, Bin Hong has told me that Su Beng has been to the Taiwan University medical center, and that his condition seems to have improved.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Knowing Su Beng's condition, I thought I should do something thoughtful, so I went to a nearby fruit stand in the afternoon, a few hours before our late afternoon meeting. I started off picking out some Japanese pears, a beautiful pineapple, and then I remembered that Su Beng likes to eat little green mangoes, so I picked up a bunch of those and had everything all boxed up.

I had talked to my Mom about Su Beng's health condition earlier and she was extremely concerned- especially considering Su Beng's age- so she said she'd call up her cousin for some medical advice. It turns out that her cousin, my uncle, Dr. Lai, is not only a medical doctor, but also happens to be a long time supporter of Su Beng.

Over a family dinner a few weeks ago, my uncle told me that when he was living in Kansas in the 1980s, he met Su Beng. Around the time that the Chinese language version of Taiwan's 400 Years of History was published (in 1980), Su Beng began making annual trips in the summer to Europe, North America and South America . He made contacts within the overseas Taiwanese communities where he spoke about Taiwan's history and sold copies of Taiwan's 400 Years of History. My uncle recounted how impressed he was by Su Beng's thorough, methodical speaking style. According to my uncle, Su Beng was even more thorough than most university professors- the way he repeated and summarized the main points made his message easily understood and retained by his "students."

The Kuomintang had actually tried to pay off Su Beng for the publishing rights of Taiwan's 400 Years of History. Of course when the book was published, it was banned in Taiwan, but the book still managed to get circulated. It awakened the consciousness of a entire generation of Taiwanese who never knew about Taiwan's unique history and development. And Su Beng's underground network expanded internationally.