Bin Hong called today to let me know that Su Beng has safely returned to Taiwan. He was given a warm, rousing welcome at the airport. She estimates that there were about 200 supporters there to greet him. That night, there was also a candlelight vigil held for Su Beng.

It has been a long, exhausting trip and arrival.

Video and photos of Su Beng's homecoming have been shot. I will post links to the video and provide some translation of what's being said in the video within the week.

The woman behind the man

I spoke to Su Beng's assistant, Bin Hong last Friday. She has been kindly giving me weekly updates, sometimes even several times a week regarding Su Beng's condition. Since Su Beng took ill, she has been traveling back and forth between Taiwan and Japan. In recent years, she has taken over the responsibility of handling the Taiwan Independence Action (獨立台灣會) Motorcade in Taipei. Since 1994, every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, around 3pm the motorcade's propaganda trucks and taxis make rounds in Taipei city and its outskirts (I wrote about it here.). I've sat on the top of one of the Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade propaganda trucks as it went on its rounds around Taipei. I've seen and heard Bin Hong at the helm, speaking over a megaphone- her powerful voice reverberating through the streets of Taipei as she shouts out these slogans: "Taiwan for the Taiwanese people." "Taiwan is not the Republic of China!" "The Taiwanese people must step up and be the masters of their own fate."

She has been there at all of my interviews with Su Beng, which for the most part, are conducted at his home in Sinjhuang. She has facilitated much of my contact and correspondence with Su Beng. She set him up on Skype. She set up his facebook account. And she's been helping me to get all the documentation that I need. I am truly indebted to her and grateful for all of her cooperativeness over these past FIVE (!) years.

Last Friday she was back in Tokyo, hoping that Su Beng would be released from the hospital in a few days time and that she'd to be able to accompany him back to Taipei. Bin Hong told me that though Su Beng's condition is relatively stable, he had had a fever the week before and that the doctors aren't exactly sure what may have caused it, so they've decided to keep him in the hospital for further observation for a few more weeks. So it looks like Su Beng won't be able to return to Taipei until mid-December.

Su Beng and the Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade making rounds to commemorate its 10 year anniversary in 2005.

There are also two other Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade groups making rounds on the weekends in Kaohsiung (which is located in southern Taiwan) and Tai Chung (which is located in central Taiwan).

Meanwhile a Taipei Times reporter recently wrote this article about Su Beng: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/12/01/2003459876

Update on Su Beng's condition

The doctors have decided not to do kidney dialysis on Su Beng if possible. So they are treating Su Beng's kidney condition with the combined use of an IV and catheter.

In recent days, Su Beng has become more lucid and seems in good spirits. He's been able to sit up and talk, and has had plenty of visitors. Even in his frail condition, he talks passionately about Taiwan, the state of politics in Taiwan and has expressed his wish that the Taiwanese people continue working towards building their own new country.

Since late October, Su Beng has been in Tokyo trying to get his noodle shop up and running again. All these years, since the 1950s, it was the noodle shop's revenue that has supported Su Beng and financed all of his Taiwan independence activities. It funded the underground training of Taiwan independence activists in the 1960s-70s, the weekly Taiwanese Independence Action (獨立台灣會) motorcades that make their rounds throughout Taiwan, and the Su Beng Education Foundation (史明教育基金會). Over the past year, Su Beng has made several trips between Taipei and Tokyo to renovate and reopen the noodle shop in hopes that the noodle shop will be able to continue to provide funds for the Su Beng Education Foundation (史明教育基金會)- so that the foundation can continue working to build Taiwan into a country made for and by the Taiwanese.

The noodle shop has been closed for much of the year. Su Beng is facing financial hardship with the loss of the noodle shop's revenue and now he has the added expense of medical bills for his treatment in Japan. If you are in Taiwan and wish to make a donation to Su Beng through the Su Beng Education Foundation, visit this website: http://www.tw400.org.tw/7foundation/7foundation.html

On the bottom of the page is an account number where donations can be made to to support these organizations: Taiwan Independence Association (獨立台灣會) and the Su Beng Education Foundation (史明教育基金會).

Taiwan independence advocate Su Beng hospitalized in Japan is too ill to travel to face ROC jail

Michael Richardson of the Boston Progressive Examiner has written about Su Beng's condition.

I had a few points of clarification regarding Su Beng's book "Taiwan's 400 Year History" and I've included my comments below.

Taiwan independence advocate Su Beng hospitalized in Japan is too ill to travel to face ROC jail
November 21, 10:38 AM
By Michael Richardson

Su Beng, the 91 year-old elder of the Taiwan independence movement, is in a Japanese medical facility too ill to return to Taiwan to face nine months in prison for a 2005 protest. Su Beng must undergo dialysis treatment or face death from kidney failure. Doctors are contemplating moving Su Beng from his treatment center to a larger hospital because of his frail condition and oppose any travel to Taiwan unless in a special aircraft equipped with life support equipment.

Su Beng had travelled from Taiwan to Japan in October to reopen his noodle restaurant which has been closed for renovation. Also in October, Su Beng's appeal of a nine-month jail sentence for a 2005 Taipei protest was denied and he must face imprisonment or pay a hefty fine.

The Republic of China in-exile [ROC] Supreme Court ironically denied Su Beng's appeal on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples' Republic of China. The independence activist had been arrested for an April 2005 protest against Kuomintang [KMT] leader Lian Chan's visit to China.

Su Beng, author of Taiwan's 400 Year History, was the first native-born Taiwanese to write a history of the four centuries of colonial rule in Taiwan. The classic history book has been translated and is now available in Japanese, Chinese and English. The book was written from Su Beng's noodle shop in Japan during his long exile from the island under the martial law period of Taiwan.

Su Beng had plotted the overthrow of KMT dictator Chiang Kai-shek after the defeated Chinese Nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949. In the early 1950's Su Beng's revolutionary plans were discovered and he had to flee the island to Japan or face certain execution.

After martial law was lifted in the late 1980's Su Beng eventually returned to Taiwan where he renewed his independence efforts. Speaking, writing and leading protests filled the aging advocate's time. Although the passing years have slowed Su Beng down they have not quieted his voice or ended his tireless advocacy for Taiwan independence.

A constant irritant to the ROC government that rules the island, Su Beng has continued to lead marches, plan protests, write essays and seek to motivate others to liberate Taiwan from the Chinese government imposed on the island by the United States following World War II. Although the KMT-controlled media infrequently mentions Su Beng his many years of effort have made him a popular word-of-mouth folk hero in Taiwan.

Su Beng's long life has spanned the Japanese colonial period, the Chinese civil war where he fought with the Communists, and his decades of Taiwan independence advocacy at a time when he was considered by KMT leaders to be a traitor.

=======================================================

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

Dear Michael,

I'd like to offer some clarification regarding the Japanese, Chinese and English versions of Su Beng's book "Taiwan's 400 Year History."

In this article, you mention that, "The classic history book has been translated and is now available in Japanese, Chinese and English."

Actually, Su Beng wrote the first version of "Taiwan's 400 Year History" in Japanese and it was published in 1962. Several years later, he wrote a more comprehensive Chinese language version which was published in 1980. The condensed English version of "Taiwan's 400 Year History" was published in 1986.

To read more on Su Beng visit: www.aboutsubeng.blogspot.com

Critical Condition

It is with great reluctance and a heavy heart that I must report this.

This weekend I heard from Bin Hong, Su Beng's assistant. She told me that Su Beng is in the hospital in Tokyo. In late October Su Beng had returned to Japan to look in on his noodle shop but recently he's had some health complications.

It's his kidneys.

Bin Hong was going to fly from Taipei to Tokyo on Wednesday but moved up her travel plans to Monday.

Yesterday she told me that his condition is not stable enough for him to return to Taiwan for treatment. In order to do so they'd have to charter a plane with special medical staff and equipment, which would be quite costly, so he will remain in Japan for treatment. Though the facility he's in specializes in kidney treatment, they are making arrangements for him to be transferred to a general hospital which will be better equipped to deal with any possible complications that might occur when they do kidney dialysis on Su Beng.

In the past year Su Beng has been traveling back and forth a great deal between Taiwan and Japan- overseeing renovations on his noodle shop in Ikebukuro and trying to get the shop back up and running. There's been a great deal of financial burden, and Bin Hong is afraid that the stress of it all has taken its toll on him.

What is there to say at a time like this?

It is serious. The man is ninety-one.

Let's just hope for the best and pray that Su Beng pulls through all of this okay.

For those of you who read Chinese, this blogger has written about Su Beng's condition and posted a video about Su Beng here: http://taiwanyes.ning.com/profiles/blogs/ge-ming-dao-shi-shi-ming-lao

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!

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

ROC Supreme Court Sentences Su Beng to 230 Days In Prison

On October 1, 2009, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China (ROC) Supreme Court sentenced Su Beng to 6 months and 50 days, or a total of 230 days in prison for his involvement in two incidents that occurred on April 26, 2005. Su Beng's assistant, Bin Hong was also sentenced with 6 months, plus 3 months, i.e. a total of 9 months- for her involvement in incidents that occurred on April 26 and May 3, 2005. Both Su Beng and Bin Hong must either serve out these sentences or pay a penalty of NT$1000/day for each day of the sentence, which means that Su Beng would have to pay NT$230,000, in lieu of serving the 230 days in prison, and Bin Hong would have to pay approximately NT$270,000. I first wrote about these charges here.

Su Beng told me that he was surprised to learn of the ROC Supreme Court judgment through reporters from the Liberty Times and Apple Daily newspapers, who had called him asking for his reaction to the judgment. I'm not sure, but this seems to imply that the media might be privy to court rulings before they are publicly released. The judicial system in Taiwan is quite complex and confusing, so I'm going to have to look into this.

How did all of this get started? What exactly happened on April 26?

On April 2, 2005, Su Beng and his associates "greeted" Chiang Pin-kun, then Kuomintang (KMT) Vice Chairman, at the Taiwan Taoyuan Airport with protests. Chiang Pin-kun was returning from a trip to Beijing. Su Beng and his associates were protesting Chiang's visits to China, which they deemed as a betrayal of Taiwan's sovereignty.

Soon after Chiang’s return to Taiwan, there were rumors that Lien Chan, then KMT Chairman, would be going to Beijing on April 26. Su Beng’s assessment of this situation was that the Kuomintang was about to sellout Taiwan to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

On April 26, 2005, Lien Chan was to leave Taiwan for a trip to Beijing. Su Beng and members of the Taiwan Independence Association's (TIA) underground network (which consisted of 100 people in 70 Taiwan Independence Association vehicles) followed Lien Chan's motorcade, to the Taiwan Taoyuan Airport. Amongst the TIA members were several taxi drivers who made coordinated efforts to surround Lien’s motorcade so that a taxi carrying Su Beng could drive up along side Lien’s car, close enough so that Lien could read a piece of paper that Su Beng held out the window of the taxi. It read, “Don’t sellout Taiwan.” After following Lien Chan for 49.5 km on the highway, Su Beng and the TIA were able to stop Lien's vehicle for about 5 minutes. But Lien had some police escorts with him, so they stopped the Taiwan Independence Association from blockading Lien's vehicle. Even though the Taiwan Independence Association was not able to blockade Lien, they continued on to the airport.

Later on, Su Beng and members of the Taiwan Independence Association arrived at the airport. They were on the third floor of the airport when they saw some people dressed in black using bats to beat up some old Taiwanese men who were at the airport protesting Lien's visit to China. The people from the Taiwan Independence Association who were with Su Beng were not carrying any weapons with them, but they had some fireworks on them, so they set off the fireworks to scare away the men dressed in black. The police stopped the Taiwan Independence Association people, so then Su Beng and people from the TIA left through a side door.

The Taiwan Independence Association had tried to blockade Lien Chan on the highway en route to the airport, in hopes that if they could delay Lien by just half an hour, it would make international news, making a statement that Taiwan is not a part of China. Not only did the Taiwan Independence Association want to interrupt Lien Chan’s visit, but more importantly, they wanted to warn the Taiwanese people that Lien Chan, the KMT and CCP were all going to betray Taiwan.

I've talked to Su Beng about these charges. He simply said that the ROC law is not the law of Taiwan.

It seems that the one thing that you could say that Su Beng and Bin Hong are guilty of, is of loving Taiwan. Su Beng wonders, is it such a crime to love Taiwan?

Furthermore, the Republic of China's (ROC) Supreme Court judgment was announced on October 1, 2009, which is the 60th anniversary of the Peoples’ Republic of China. In doing so, Su Beng feels that the KMT has used this judgment as a tool to appease the Chinese Communist Party. He thinks that the Taiwanese people should know that the ROC does not represent the country of Taiwan, and Taiwan will survive only if Taiwan becomes independent.

The Taipei Times recently ran an article about the ROC Supreme Court's sentence of Su Beng.

NOTE: Before you read this article in the Taipei Times, I'd like to point out that in the photograph Su Beng is pictured waving the wooden cane he always walks with. He is not just "waving a stick" (that could be misconstrued as a weapon), as described in the photograph. To read the article click here.

Su Beng is now on facebook!

Thanks to Su Beng's assistant Bin Hong (敏紅), Su Beng is now on facebook! Checkout his profile and friend him here: http://www.facebook.com/people/Su-Beng/100000149336148?ref=search

The other day Bin Hong and I talked over Skype about "facebooking" strategies for Su Beng.

I'm looking forward to this opportunity to help Su Beng increase his visibility in this new, as yet uncharted frontier.

In this day and age of social media (i.e. Twitter, LinkedIn, FaceBook), it's important to know how to leverage these platforms in order to develop new contacts, and your personal brand.

There's always something new to be learned. So bring it on!

More than just a noodle shop

I heard from Su Beng the other day. After returning to Japan in late June and spending many of the summer months in Japan, he is now back in Taiwan again. Renovations on his noodle shop, which is located in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo, have finally been completed. The New Gourmet (新珍味) noodle shop is now open for business, but it seems that business is not what quite it used to be.

Photo courtesy of: L. Huang

There is a temporary cook working there now, but Su Beng still needs to hire a full-time cook for the shop, so he will be going back to Tokyo at the end of the month to find and train a new cook and staff.

Su Beng's noodle shop is certainly more than just a noodle shop- as I've written about briefly here.

In fact, the noodle shop may not have come into existence if Su Beng had not been able to flee from Taiwan in the early part of 1952, when it was discovered that he had been stockpiling weapons (left by the Japanese in Taiwan after World War II) for the purpose of attempting to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek.

Since Taiwan was under martial law at the time, people's whereabouts were closely monitored. Travel within and out of the country was restricted. So Su Beng temporarily went into hiding. If he had gotten arrested, he would have been tortured and forced to reveal the names of others involved in this plot.

Eventually, he figured out a way to get out of Taiwan. Back then, one of Taiwan's major exports was bananas, so in the late spring of 1952, after months of planning, he escaped from Taiwan by hiding in the cargo compartment of a boat exporting bananas to Japan. There are of course many more nail-biting details that I am leaving out here- about how Su Beng was even able to get access to the "banana boat" and the 5 day, 6 night boat ride that he endured, hidden in the cargo compartment of a boat, surrounded by nothing but bananas.

In the abridged version of this incredible tale Su Beng was arrested for illegally entering Japan and put in a detention center for several months, waiting to be repatriated to Taiwan. In a strange twist of fate, Su Beng was released early before serving out his entire sentence.

Now given political asylum in Japan, how was he going to support himself? He only knew that he wanted to continue his work for the Taiwan independence movement. And in order to do that, he decided that he'd have to start his own business, so he decided to start off small by renting a food stall.

Initially he thought of preparing and selling Taiwanese food, but then he realized that there would be a bigger market for Northern Chinese food. Many Japanese had been stationed in Northern China during World War II and surely they missed Chinese style fried noodles and dumplings, he thought. His food stall was an instant success, since he was one of the first to prepare and sell Northern Chinese style food.

In a few years time, he had made enough to purchase the building which is where his noodle shop is today. Later he added on 3 more floors- which he used as his residence and to train underground Taiwan independence activists. It was here that he later wrote the Japanese and Chinese language versions of Taiwan's 400 Years of History, one of his most palpable contributions to the Taiwan independence movement.

Stay tuned for more photos of the newly renovated shop.

Here are more photos that one of my friends in Tokyo snapped back in July of the noodle shop:

Photo courtesy of: L. Huang

Photo courtesy of: L. Huang

Talking to Su Beng

For me there have always these little milestones, these breakthroughs that I remember having experienced along the way in my interviews and interactions with Su Beng. It has been nearly five years now since I began this project! In the beginning I saw the big picture, I felt the potential of it ALL- and that is what moved me to pursue his story. For me it was a "calling" of sorts.

I remember noticing how the trust that I had built with him over the years was starting to yield results. During my interviews with him, especially in the past two years, new details have resurfaced.

And it may seem strange, that even now, I am still amazed by how our relationship has become so collaborative.

Su Beng has contacted me a few times in the past week- the good old fashioned way- via telephone. He will be sending me more photos and written materials for the biography. He'd like to find someone to translate his book: The Ideology of Democracy（民主主義). So now I'll be on the lookout for a translator.

But what I've always hoped would eventually get translated more completely some day, is Su Beng's Chinese language version of "Taiwan's 400 Year of History", which is over 2000 pages! The only English language version of it in existence, which is out of print, is a mere 150-something pages long.

Today he told me that on June 29th he will be returning to Japan to finally reopen his noodle shop. I'm looking forward to hearing about the grand reopening and have already enlisted a friend in Tokyo to pay the noodle shop a visit and to report back with photos of course.


The top of the wooden case of Su Beng's three volume work depicts the now "legendary", but true account of Jan Huygen van Linschoten, a Dutch navigator on a Portuguese ship who cried out "Ilha Formosa" ("Beautiful Island") upon seeing Taiwan in the 1500's.