April and May updates on Su Beng

APRIL 8, 2012 

On April 8^th Su Beng took to the streets with his Taiwan Independence Action motorcade. For over fifteen years, every Saturday and Sunday the motorcade has been making its rounds around Taipei city. 

A Taiwan Independence Action motorcade propaganda truck.

Here’s a translation of what’s written on the side of the propaganda truck above:

NOTE: Each line should be read across from left to right, then from top to bottom.

Extinguish the foreign colonial system (top line, in yellow section)

Taiwan independence (second, middle line, in green)

The burden is on the people for the day that we break through the darkness (third, bottom line, in red)

The two Chinese characters （獨立）on the back of the truck read: independence.

A banner with a message for the people of Taiwan is fastened to the side of a propaganda truck.

Each line on the red and white banner fastened to the side of this propaganda truck should be read from top to bottom, left to right, so essentially each line is actually a column. Here's a translation of the message on the banner:

One country two zones (first, left most column)

Means that China wants to eat up Taiwan (second column)

The Taiwanese should not be fooled (third column)

The Taiwanese must guard and protect Taiwan (fourth, far right column)

The Taiwan Independence Action motorcade is lined up and ready to go.

One unique feature of the propaganda trucks is the live aspect of it. The propaganda trucks are not just automatrons delivering an endless loop of canned, prerecorded messages and music. As you can see instruments like drums and cymbals are played by members of the Taiwan Independence Action motorcade, and people speak live over the megaphones to passersby. 

Su Beng gets ready to toss flags to onlookers and passersby.

On the flags that Su Beng is waving is written 台灣民族主義, which translates as: Taiwan Nationalism.

Su Beng tosses a flag and distributes information about Taiwan nationalism.

APRIL 25, 2012

On April 25th, Su Beng entered the hospital to have some medical tests run. Since his kidneys failed in 2009 Su Beng had been less ambulatory. While in the hospital he continued working on his writings.

 He also had many visitors while in the hospital.

Professor Tsay of the Alliance of Referendum (ART) also visited Su Beng in the hospital.

MAY 11, 2012

On May 11th, Su Beng asked to be discharged early from the hospital. 

Once discharged he went to join the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan's (ART) sit-in, on Ketaglan Boulevard, in front of the Legislative Yuan (which is like the US Congress).

In this photo, the Presidential Palace can be seen in the distance, at the end of the street.

MAY 12, 2012

On May 12th Su Beng spoke at 思想地下室演講, which has been translated as the Reflection Room (or more accurately basement, since 地下 means basement). At the talk Su Beng discussed his book 400 YEARS OF TAIWAN'S HISTORY and the Taiwan independence movement.

MAY 14, 2012


On May 14th Su Beng and the Taiwan Independence Action motorcade went to the front of the Taipei train station to participate in an eight-day rally calling for the release of former President Chen Shui-bian and protesting against President Ma Ying-jeou's poor performance while in office. There were more than 30 civic groups and pro-independence groups gathered there. To learn more about the eight-day rally, read this Taipei Times article about it.  

At the rally Su Beng wrote a message in Chinese characters. 

 

Here's my translation what Su Beng wrote: Taiwan independence is the solution.

Su Beng with this Taiwan Independence Action motorcade propaganda trucks in the background.

MAY 15 & MAY 17,  2012


Su Beng and the Taiwan Independence Action motorcade made its rounds in Taipei during the eight-day rally and leading up to a major rally to be organized by the Democratic Progressive Party on May 19, the eve of President Ma's second-term inauguration.

MAY 19, 2012


A mass protest of President Ma's poor governance and controversial policies was organized by the Democratic Progressive Party on May 19, the eve of President Ma's second-term inauguration on May 20. Su Beng and the Taiwan Independence Action motorcade joined the protest at the National Taiwan University. Read this Taipei Times article about the protest and what policies the public is protesting.  

Su Beng and members of the Taiwanese band 拷秋勤 Kou Chou Ching.

MAY 20, 2012

On the day of President Ma's inauguration Su Beng and protesters gathered at the Taipei train station.

The Philosophy of Concrete Action

A new book of Su Beng's essays and writings was released on May 30, 2012. The collection was compiled and edited by: 余崇任、藍士博 / 美編

The title of the book has been translated as: Philosophy Praxis, but it could also be translated as: The Philosophy of Concrete Action.

Here's a translation of the basic information that appears on the above promotional poster for the book's release and press conference:

The left side of this promotional flyer indicates a date of 5/30, time of 7:00pm-9:00pm, and meeting place of A202 for a book release press conference.

On the right side it reads:

Su Beng [life chronology in brief]

1819 born in Shih Lin

1947 had gone to China to participate with the Chinese Communists

1950 had returned to Taiwan and begun organizing the Taiwan Revolutionary Armed Corps, wanted for [for plotting to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek]

1952 covertly escaped to Japan, where he lived in exile for over 40 years

1962 published Taiwan’s 400 Year History [Japanese language version]

1967 established the Taiwan Independence Association, advocated a leftist approach for Taiwan

1993 returned to Taiwan and continues to work for the Taiwan independence movement

Across the bottom of the flyer in large characters, it reads:

Su Beng (Taiwan's 400 Year History), Taiwan Independence Association unveils (The Philosophy of Concrete Action) with a book release press conference.

The event was sponsored by the Taiwan Association of University Professors.

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

Two book release press conferences for this book were held on May 30 and June 1. 

5/30: book release press conference at Ching Hwa University

6/1:  book release press conference at Dong Hwa University.

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

A more complete update on what Su Beng has been up to will be posted soon.

Su Beng is now in the midst of a 4 part lecture series about his life. The first lecture was held on March 31 and today will be the second. Full details appear in these flyers:



Here's an English translation of the above flyer:

He is a rare person, a Taiwanese leftist revolutionary. His life has spanned nearly 100 years of Taiwan’s history. He has traveled to 4 continents. He has witnessed Taiwanese people’s opposition movement against the Japanese. He went to Japan for a higher education. There he was enlightened by the modernization of civilization. During World War II he went to China, where he became an undercover agent to resist the Japanese. At the end of World War II he went to the northern part of China where he witnessed land reforms and discovered that the Chinese Communist party was inhumane; they had no regard for humanity. At last he decided to advocate for the Taiwan independent movement, and he spent 10 years to write a book called Taiwan’s 400 Years of History. This history book was the first one written by a Taiwanese person from a Taiwanese point of view. He’s a revolutionary, a man of action, a philosopher. So it’s quite worthwhile to come listen to what he has to say.

Talk 1 (3/31) 1920-30 Glorious old Taipei

Talk 2 (4/7)    My study abroad life, study, singing and Waseda

Talk 3 (4/28)  My Chinese experience underground work, NE China

Talk 4             My revolution: Taiwan’s 400 Years of History, Taiwan independence

1/26 interview of Su Beng with Samuel Lee of LATWTV (Part 3 of 3)

Finally! Here's the last third (42:01-1:02:42) of the English translation of Samuel Lee's interview with Su Beng. The first third appears here and the second third appears here. You can watch the entire interview on YouTube by clicking here.

*Special Thanks to Professor Ching Lee for his invaluable assistance with the translation of this interview.

SL: I see at home here you have [this saying]: “Working together as a group we’ll have power” As this Japanese person, Shi Dou wrote: United we have power.

SB: He was from one of the emperor’s noble families in Kyoto. He was famous for the articles he wrote. He was a humanitarian.

SL: It’s fitting that this quote captures O-ji-san’s philosophy. Being united is power.

SB: The author asked me, “What do you want me to write?” and I just said something about being united together [being united is power].

SL: This is a useful phrase. So for you looking at Taiwan’s situation, what is your perspective, what do you think?

SB: From a simple perspective Taiwan has met the criteria for independence. Now if you look back at the Japanese occupation era, in all of Asia it [Japan] was the most developed, capitalistic and modern country and after that it was either Korea, India, or Taiwan, in the 1930s, then you’d know Taiwan’s education and culture the standards were very high. To be a capitalistic society you need to raise the standards of education and culture. So Taiwan was more [advanced] than other places.

SL: What about after the Kuomintang came?

SB: The Kuomintang was even worse. You see Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 every year the outdated was fixed/taken care of and it kept on modernizing. Same with the government and law. In Taiwan, during the Japanese occupation period, if you wanted to arrest someone you couldn’t take them away without proper papers, but when the Kuomintang came if you weren’t the police, the secret police just dragged you away then you wouldn’t come back There was huge difference between the society [before and after the Kuomintang came].

Taiwan’s culture was more developed [than China’s], compared to Egypt and Asia it was more developed. In terms of economics, now Taiwan is within the top 20 of 200 or so countries. Taiwan has the necessary conditions to be a modernized society. So in short the Taiwanese the Taiwanese have everything, they are just lacking a “Taiwanese soul.”

SL: The Taiwanese people… what I find strange is, even though we had the da pu se jian (大埔事件), recently [in which the government went in a destroyed the rice fields of farmers in Da Pu in Taoyuan, Miaoli], and then the [government] spent 200 million New Taiwan dollars on a concert for Meng Xiang Jia ( 夢想家) [Dreamer- a musical play] in Taiwan. Recklessly spending money. And the Kuomintang still won the election. Where is the Taiwanese people’s political principles, I wonder?

SB: It’s like this, for 400 years we haven’t had the chance to rule for ourselves, we were always ruled/governed by others, thus we have this psychological complex [on the one hand we want to rule ourselves, but on the other seem to be fine with being ruled with others] and thinking which side will win/who should I side with to win. This is something we should reflect on, the historical facts. There’s a big difference between someone who has a “Taiwanese soul” and says “I’m Taiwanese” and someone who doesn’t. Those who have [a “Taiwanese soul”] will insist on their principle and the others would work with the enemy.

SL: For the Taiwanese to become a modernized country, political awareness and ideas have to make further advancement.

SB: The first thing is the time period, after World War II not only has there been material development, but people’s awareness also has developed. People have to realize the existence of others [---] During the imperialist period there was no give and take between people, but after World War II. In the west people went through World War I and World War II, they were fighting each other and they have paid this price and have gradually developed this sense of mutual respect with other. Compared to the ideal there is still a big gap, but for now there has been some advancement. In the past if a stronger power took over a colony, that was considered a good thing, but now it is a bad thing. So the worldwide trend is advantageous to us [Taiwan]. No one in the world thinks that the Kuomintang is our rightful ruling government. Furthermore China’s dictatorship government is a problem [for the Taiwanese], but the world trend the movement towards mutual respect and this is a good thing for Taiwan. That Taiwan has been ruled by outside regimes, this is wrong. The status of the country used to be dubious but now the Taiwanese people are welcome to discuss and speak their minds [on this topic].

SL: That Taiwanese people were ruled by foreign regimes creates a problem between the people who try to work within or outside of the system. The people who work outside of the system want to correct/change the current situation. The people who work within the system want to correct/change the current situation. The people who work within the system tend to lose their soul and because of the elections they lose their political claim to make changes. Those that work outside of the system comparatively can insist on their ideas better than those that work within the system. So in your opinion, how will these two groups of people be able to work together?

SB: Let me tell you, first Taiwan has been ruled by the Kuomintang for 60-70 years, with secret police, which was basically like a dictatorship, like Stalin. People could take you away in the middle of the night and then [you’d] never come home. This wasn’t just one or two instances. Under these circumstances most Taiwanese are against the Kuomintang. The problem is that some have been employed by the Kuomintang, some have “gotten money from the Kuomintang” and so they vote for them [Kuomintang]. If you turn it around and talk about the Taiwan independence movement working on it for 60 something years, but there haven’t been any results.

The weakness of Taiwanese originates, you were saying with the soul [lack of soul] but it is not that easy to change it. The DDP is not thinking about this, they are just thinking about their own special interests. So they think how can I become a legislator so that I can get some special rights [personal benefit].

Up to now Taiwan independence movement has only dealt with branches an leaves, but hasn’t paid attention to the roots or soul. So it’s dragging along. Truthfully speaking, Peng Min-Ming and my family were friends. His brother and I were classmates. I’ve met him only 2-3 times, he has been working within the Kuomintang framework, but he didn’t talk about the root of the problem. He was amongst the most elite intellectuals of Taiwan, what really needs to be talked about is the most basic things, like branches and leaves. He talked about the problems with the Kuomintang, from a legal perspective.
To solve the problem you need to talk about your principles, ideas, position, and strategy.

SL: Now you are talking about the system.

SB: The system… the society, the society’s present system.

SL: This time you were really busy with your motorcade going around Taiwan and with the election results… not as good as expected… O-ji-san were you disappointed?

SB: I was disappointed for about an hour or so. Of course I felt disappointed, but then after about an hour I thought, what’s next? The failure was because of colonialism and strategy and tactics. We have to insist on our roots, that the Taiwanese and Chinese are not the same.

These past last few days I haven’t been out much. I’m going to write this: the Taiwanese people should protect Taiwan and oppose to the Kuomintang bringing China over.
And then this [banner] is going to go out every day. With regards to the independence issue if we don’t get ideology right, then it’ll be like this [with the same recent election results]. From now on there will be hardship, but we must persist/insist.

Regarding what you mentioned about working within or outside of the system, in these last 60 years those who work within have money, those working outside don’t have money. So the people working within the system monopolize the political resources. Those working on the outside don’t have access to the media to attack the others.

The DPP is the same [as the Kuomintang], there are people working inside the system and outside the system, fighting against each other. But I am not like that, the Taiwan Independence Association wasn’t like that, in general those working on the outside cannot tell the people working within the system what to do nor can those working on the inside can’t tell with those working outside of the system what to do. In that way you work together. But they don’t. At least, I don’t criticize the DPP. For example when Peng Ming-min and Lee Teng hui or Chen Shui-bian were running for election. Although I work outside the system, I got involved. Cooperation is very important. The Taiwanese people working together is what’s most important. Working together is not to say what is right or wrong with the Kuomintang it is what the Taiwanese people’s roots are [as a basis for cooperation].

SL: This time as your motorcade made round all over Taiwan, O-ji-san you were there traveling around with the motorcade. At your age, running around must be so exhausting.

SB: Yes, it was exhausting, I was tired but whatever I can do within my means… this has to do with one’s outlook on life. I have chosen this path… If you know what nationalism is, the Kuomintang, the history of Taiwan, once you know this, you cannot escape it.
What is most important now in all of Taiwan [is that] most people do not read [are not well read]. Part of the problem is the media is controlled/monopolized [and] the educational system is still the Kuomintang’s. Under these circumstances, the things we want to do are deep and very difficult. But if this path is not cleared, then Taiwanese people won’t [have a future]. So the circumstances are calling for independence but we are not independent and it’s bad.

SL: For Taiwan’s future O-ji-san, take good care of your health. We still need you.

SB: This is a natural phenomena. I’m getting near the end. Now it’s your turn to work hard [for the cause]. I’m very happy to talk to you today. Everyone who’s talked to me hasn’t discussed our roots, you are one of the few to talk to me about our roots.

My [ideology of] Taiwan nationalism people haven’t studied it. Your look at the island, this is a good thing […] The most important thing is that as society develops, the more important education and part of that is the media, and Taiwan’s media, look at it …

SL: One last question about media’s worldview. In Taiwan, the media rarely deals with world issues. How do you see the media?

SB: Media is a public instrument. It is not the Kuomintang’s or Democratic Progressive Party’s or anyone’s. The media can be proud of themselves by looking at issues with a sense of ethics. Taiwan does not have this, so what comes out is the Kuomintang on the surface and underneath it’s the Chinese Communist party controlling things. In this situation the US will not just let things go. In Taiwan no one is speaking the truth. If you talk about independence, you get cancelled. See what this does to Taiwan’s society? The average person doesn’t know this. They are being pushed from one end/side to another


SL: People within the Democratic Progressive Party have said that the DDP need to reexamine the cross strait relations policy and a lot of strange theories have surfaced.

SB: The Democratic Progressive Party’s principles are not firm so then their strategies and tactics end up changing their principles. So the latter [strategies and tactics] changes the former [the principles]. It’s not right, like a grandchild changing his grandparent. The eras are different and so the principles are different [it’s out of order]. Taiwan is now facing this problem.

SL: It is a mess.

SB: So I think if you could work on this it would be very good.

With the media it’s the same the basis [focus] should be on Taiwan [for Taiwan’s interests]. We do not do things for our self-interest but for Taiwan. If you don’t work for Taiwan but your own interests, then you’ll be like today’s politicians.

SL: Thank you O-ji-san today. After the election you were so busy and not feeling very well. So for today, excuse me, thank you.

SB: You have the enthusiasm. Now we will take it step by step and develop Taiwan.

SL: Oji-san please give us some more advice. Thank you, thank you O-ji-san.

SB: It’s mutual and we learn from each other.

SL: Dear viewers and friends, thank you everyone for watching
I want to thank Su Beng and his two assistants. Thanks for their help to make this interview happen and run smoothly. [This interview] lets everyone understand Su Beng’s view points. I believe “United we have power,” the phrase written by the very famous Japanese writer, that we saw on the wall before and it gives us a lot of encouragement, insight and power.

Today, thank you everyone for watching and see you next time.

1/26 interview of Su Beng with Samuel Lee of LATWTV (Part 2 of 3)

Here's the English translation for the second third (0:19:42-0:42:01) of the 1/26 interview that Samuel Lee of LATWTV (conducted in Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese) with Su Beng. The first third of the interview was translated here. To watch the entire interview on YouTube click here.

*Special Thanks to Professor Ching Lee for his invaluable assistance with this and future translation of this interview.


SL: So what do you think the Democratic Progressive Party […] You advocate-Taiwan nationalism as a core principle and you have quite a complete theoretical foundation […] As far as the Democratic Progressive Party is concerned, Tsai Ing-wen has proposed a “Taiwan consensus” (i.e. consensus about the future of Taiwan. The Kuomintang [in addition to others] has also criticized the Taiwan consensus as too ambiguous a term. So why doesn’t the DPP want to use your concept of Taiwan nationalism? Then the idea would be very clear, more solid and have a theoretical foundation and a historical foundation. What is your view on this?

SB: This has to do with the tendency of the Taiwanese people’s movement. A movement or revolution serves to change the status quo. If there is no principle or ideas, it won’t get done. In this area the Taiwanese haven’t established this [way of thinking]. Everyone from Liao Bun Geh or Peng Min-Ming’s time onward discussed the Kuomintang’s shortcomings but didn’t have a theoretical foundation to mobilize people. They didn’t discuss what Taiwan is, what Taiwan’s history is and what history we have gone through, what was Taiwan’s situation in the past, or what is Taiwan’s place in the international community. No one discusses this. They just attack the Kuomintang’s weaknesses and fight against each other and this is called politics [in Taiwan]. This is the Taiwanese people’s biggest problem

SL: In talking about this it seems to be only skin deep [very shallow], [it] doesn’t have spiritual depth.

SB: That’s right. When it comes to a social group or movement, if you want independence, if you want to take care of things [get things done], if you don’t have spiritual depth, then it will not be possible. Spiritual depth comes from a historical tradition.

SL: Regarding Taiwan nationalism, something the [you] O-ji-san has talked about/advocated for so long […] If we look at Egypt and the Middle East, their culture, [and] with a land mass so large [larger than Taiwan’s] and they have had the Arab Spring Revolution it can happen there [but] why [with] Taiwan being such a small island, how come your idea of Taiwan consensus [i.e. Taiwan nationalism], [why] haven’t a lot of people reacted to it like that [in the case of the Arab Spring Revolution]. O-ji-san, what do you think is the main reason why this is not happening?

SB: This, well you see, Taiwan has 400 years of history, if you look at Asian and African countries colonized by the Westerners, in about the same time period… This question that you just asked, I haven’t really thought about it too much. But I think whether it’s Egypt, Syria, or India, they were each colonized by one colonizing country for about 3 or 500 years. If it wasn’t England, it was France or Germany or […]. If you look at Taiwan’s 400 years [of history], there were several sections, the Dutch for 38 years, the Ching dynasty for 213 years, Japan for 51 years, and now so on… In this period of time, the Taiwanese people’s Taiwanese-ness [sense of being Taiwanese] and thinking has been divided by them [colonial rulers] several times. Another thing is, colonization is a strategy to cause separation [division]. With this strategy to separate, if ethnic groups [and] nationalism is intact, if you have focal point [core values], then you won’t be that easily influenced. In Taiwan most of the aborigines came from the south, and the Han came from China. In the midst of all this they didn’t want to be ruled by others. But with these things, if you don’t get to the root of it, then you just end up criticizing the [weaknesses] rulers. In doing the work of a revolution, if you don’t have very strong principles [or beliefs] or ideology, you cannot stand firm, then your strategy and tactics can’t be very strong you’ll waver from one side to the other. If your ideology is not firm you can’t stand firm.

Now before, why did I say that before that Taiwan’s democracy became one of a state without a government [i.e. no rule of law]? At the time when Chiang Ching-guo died, the democracy that people spoke of […] meant total freedom, if people had freedom/civil liberty this was [considered to be] democracy. But actually democracy has a social base, if there is no foundation it is not possible. If we don’t have the basic structure and everyone has total freedom but the result is a state without government, meaning anything could be said, people could say anything they wanted. It had just become like that.

SL: 0:25:50 Now I’d like to ask you another question. Now presently we have [the idea of] independence ideology. Taiwan has many historians who have written about history. The strange thing is that historians would talk about the history of it, and not take a stand on it. O-ji-san you wrote Taiwan’s 400 Years of History, you have taken a position [on this]. Many scholars have not taken a position. Is the reason because they don’t dare to or …

SB: Let me tell you, what you are pointing out about, this is one of the most basic problems of study. Modern science comes from the west, which has a definite methodology, there’s a paradigm. When looking at something you first look at the essence, then you see how it develops, then see what must be done about it, then see the ideology, stance [position], strategy, discipline. Taiwanese people are not familiar with this. This is the result of colonialism. So in a sense the Taiwanese are all victims, with all the education problems, young people are victims, but this problem of being victimized, how do we overcome this problem? You must go back to the origin [roots], if you don’t have the basics, if you just overcome the branches and leaves. It is no use. If the Taiwanese themselves don’t have self-awareness or spirit, if you don’t have the spirit or soul then everything is like branches and leaves.

SL: So we can say that the impact of colonialism is quite major.

SB: Colonialism had a huge impact on the people and society of Taiwan. With the Kuomintang, they had learned from the Chinese Communists [so when they ruled] they were not just taking advantage of you politically, but they were reforming your way of thinking. That’s the biggest problem. The way they reformed your thinking was not like Japan, in which they just did so by teaching you. They [the Kuomintang] used the secret police and political oppression to force you, so the suffering of the Taiwanese people was huge.

Part of the problem, if you discuss it further, lies with the Taiwanese people themselves. If the Taiwanese people themselves don’t think that being treated like this is disadvantageous, then it [the status quo] will continue. So whatever it is, it’s just like life, if you do not have a direction and you keep flip flopping, then you will not have any strength [power].

SL: If we talk about the changing stance of historians now, for example Japan has [its] Japan nationalism, and China has Chinese nationalism from Sun Yat Sen, Taiwan has O-ji-san’s Taiwan nationalism. When you proposed this idea, could tell us how you came up with the idea that Taiwan needs this ideological perspective?

SB: This actually has to do with my life experience. In the Ching dynasty my grandmother and great grandfather for example, everyone [of that generation] said, we all came from China, but when they saw Chinese people they called them immigrants from China and most people distained them [the Chinese]. There was an opposition to the Ching dynasty [this opposition lasted into] the Japanese occupation period, for the elderly they all thought the Chinese were no good.

I grew up during the Japanese occupation period. When I was in middle school and high school I used to have to chant “Long live the emperor.” I used to think who was my emperor [what did that have to do with me]? So there was a very basic questioning of what it meant to be Taiwanese. That made me think about these things. And because my grandmother, great grandfather and mother, none of them thought of China as their homeland. [The term] homeland is a modern concept and they viewed the Chinese as being worse than us [beneath us]. So naturally in my youth, China didn’t really matter to me and because I went to university where I studied socialism. My father was a member of the Taiwan Culture Society. He had opposed the Japanese. Since my childhood, I had known Lim Hian Dong, Jiu Wei Sui, [who were active members of the Taiwan Culture Society] so unconsciously, these experiences were the roots. […] When I graduated [from university] I decided to resist the Japanese and so I ended up going to China. As I worked in the resistance against Japan, I saw that the Chinese [Communists] methods were inhumane. When I saw people killing each other and being killed on a massive scale, I realized that I am not Chinese and I don’t need to die in China. From that moment on I had the awareness of being Taiwanese.

So because of that, in 1949, when I returned [to Taiwan], I thought when examining Taiwan’s issues I should go to the essence, I needed to read and know about Taiwan, starting with history. I am not a historian, so that’s why I started from history and kept going.

SL: Now Ma Ying-jeou is opening up Taiwan to China more and more. And with Taiwan awareness, the idea of “I’m Taiwanese” is more and more important to China’s [planned] invasion. If we don’t have a sense of Taiwanese-ness then we will become Chinese-ized, and then if Chinese immigrants and the Taiwanese merge as one. Under this circumstance how will we make the DPP put more emphasis on Taiwanese-ness, otherwise unlike this election in which Taiwanese-ness was purposely de-emphasized, and even one China and one Taiwan on either side [two states instead of two countries] was deemphasized [Taiwanese-ness] is slowly being diluted and if we keep on going backward [like this] until Taiwan becomes the Republic of China, and the Republic of China becomes Taiwan… Ms. Tsai’s idea initially was that the Kuomintang is a government in exile, but then she said that the Taiwan is Republic of China. As this keeps switching [back and forth], Taiwanese-ness is being diluted. Less and less [people] discuss it [Taiwanese-ness]. Since you are so concerned with these issues you must feel uneasy [to see this]. So what can young people do to recover the meaning of Taiwan nationalism?

SB: The question [problem/issue] of nationalism is on the one hand, for example [is about] the same bloodline, living in the same place, or the same environment. These are the basic requirements [conditions]. Then on the other hand there’s one’s way of thinking, like awareness [feeling/sentiment]. For example, [take] you and I, if we spent time together you will realize that you are different from me. This is an awareness of psychological processes. So on this topic, this is my view, if Taiwan has absolutely no awareness of Taiwanese-ness [nationalism] and no ideology and if China comes [takes over] then the future of Taiwan will degenerate. But with this thing, awareness, when the ideology [Taiwanese-ness] meets some opposition, it [Taiwanese-ness] will become stronger and stronger. On the contrary when you meet opposition, it will become even stronger

Actually, nationalism comes from the encounter with other societies or ethnicities. That is where nationalism comes from. If at the end of the Japanese occupation, after the World War II if the Kuomintang had not [ruled] the way that they did, there would not have been a rising Taiwanese awareness.

But when [the Taiwanese] saw the Kuomintang’s essence, [and] the way they ruled, it made the Taiwanese people’s sentiments run high. Sentiments are the beginning [of Taiwanese-ness]. When sentiments run high, then the reaction to immediate oppression… [However] in reality you must obey, you have no choice, but the feelings and awareness have increased [Taiwanese-ness will grow] Let’s take China, in my view when I was there [in China in the 1940s] I saw that it was not mainly socialist, it was a dictatorship. I saw the Chinese peasants, they couldn’t escape the ruling of China. When they were told to do this they would do it. They didn’t see me as a Chinese person, they saw me as a Japanese person and so they [felt they] could me what they really felt from the heart. Their true inner most feelings were against the Chinese Communists.

After Mao Tse Dong died, then Deng Xiao Ping […] so many people [population of China], they could not rule over everyone. China’s politics and organization are very strong, but the Chinese people’s hearts have grown apart from Chinese Communists.

[With] us Taiwanese, I think it’s the same, when the KMT came. At that time because of our livelihood we had to accommodate them, but many people have a conscience and can tell good from bad. So actually people’s feelings of resistance against the Kuomintang will emerge and then when the KMT collapses then Taiwanese-ness will rise. Then the Taiwanese will say we want independence. Once this comes out on the surface it [Taiwanese-ness] will be suppressed, but these feelings, this awareness [in the heart] cannot be suppressed.

For example Communist China is the same, take Tibet. In the beginning Tibet, before the Republic of China period, had a population of 3 million. There was not even a thousand Chinese who had gone there, but China has penetrated and infiltrated it up until now and the population is now 6 million. It’s half Chinese and half Tibetans and so then China will win politically, militarily. But you see Tibetans are still the way they are [against China].

SL: To avoid being taken over by China, the increase of Taiwanese-ness is very important, to be just like Tibet and East Timor.

SB: It’s all the same. China now has 55 ethnic minorities, and China always uses these same methods. Take Mongolia, now there are more Mongolians […].

SL: So the Chinese Communists want to have the Taiwanese aborigines to attend their ethnic minority group/meetings. This is the start of a new tactic.

SB: With each ethnic group, they try to separate [factionalize/divide] them one by one. And us in Taiwan, we are the easiest to divide. So us Taiwanese [are], 84-85% Holo people, Hakka make up 13-14%, and Aborigines are only about 50,000 or so. So dividing us up is easy to do. So whenever I go somewhere like Hsinchu I always say that we need to work together because… How are the Taiwanese and Chinese different? First the land of Taiwan was developed by our Holo, Hakka, and aborigine ancestors. It has nothing to do with China. This is the point, their ancestors are not the same as ours. This is one of our major roots. I’ve often said that, in the past, during the Ching dynasty, they… Let me give a bit of a longer explanation, hear me out. Shi liong, who was general and Koxinga’s father had come to occupy Taiwan. He [Shi liong] had fought with the Hakka people in Chao Tso and then in Xia Men. When he took over Taiwan. He brought the governing documents and in the beginning in 1895 he only allowed Holo people to go to Taiwan but banned Hakka people [from going to Taiwan]---- Hakka –1895, no that’s not right, from1795-1874, in the time, for about 80 years the Hakka people weren’t permitted to come. So because of this when the Hakka did come, all of the good land had been claimed. There was only rocky areas or mountainous areas.

SL: Like Miaoli.

SB: Under those circumstances the majority took advantage of the minority. So the Holo had taken over everything. This a historical tragedy. What I’m saying is that now if the Taiwanese are not united, they cannot afford to not work together. What does working being united mean? If only the Holo work together we can’t accomplish anything. If only the Hakka work together, we can’t do anything. Everyone needs to work together
If we use the democratic process, they [Hakka] will always be a minority, if this is always the case the Hakka and Holo will always be a minority. So we need to find a political solution to this situation, so that we can be united.

Translation of the last third of the interview will be posted soon.

Su Beng's 2-28 Demonstration

On February 28, 2012, Su Beng staged a protest at the front gate of the 2-28 Memorial Peace Park in Taipei with Professor Tsay and others.

Visit these websites to learn more about the 228 Massacre that happened in Taiwan on February 28, 1947:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/228_Incident
http://www.taiwandc.org/228-intr.htm

Here's a 1947 New York Times article that was written about about the 228 Massacre
http://blog.roodo.com/subing/archives/2781801.html




Here's a translation of some of the slogans being chanted in the video:

Against the Kuomintang, massacring the Taiwanese!

Against the Kuomintang, bringing Chinese Communists to Taiwan!


NOTE: The Chinese characters on the white "raincoat" being worn by Professor Tsay reads: Ma’s government in exile has desecrated the heroes of 228


Su Beng, himself leads the group with these slogans:

Objecting to the Kuomintang, bringing Chinese Communists to Taiwan

Objecting to the Chinese Communists to occupy Taiwan


The group continues with these chants:

Objecting the government in exile, massacring Taiwanese race!

Objecting to the Chinese Communists' political oppression!

1/26 interview of Su Beng with Samuel Lee of LATWTV (Part 1 of 3)

Recently, on January 26th, Su Beng was interviewed at his home in Sinjhuan, Taipei by Samuel Lee of LATWTV. He talked with Mr. Lee about his observations in the months leading up to the Presidential election in Taiwan. For about 2 months prior to the (January 14) Presidential election, he and his Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade traveled around the island of Taiwan in an effort to get out the vote for Democratic Progressive Party Presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen.

UPDATE (February 29, 2012): Here's the first 20 minutes or 1/3 of the interview (conducted in Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese) with Su Beng. The translation (from 0:00:00 to 0:19:42) appears below. *Special Thanks to Professor Ching Lee for his invaluable assistance with this and future translation of this interview.

Stay tuned for translation of the second third of the interview.



SL: Good day everyone, my name is Samuel Lee of LATWTV in the U.S. I am now in a suburb of Taipei, Sinjhuang, at Su Beng’s residence reporting. As you know Taiwan, the Republic of China, recently held Presidential elections. Su Beng he himself has always worked outside of the [political] system, he believes in working outside of the system rather than within the system. He has a motorcade with 5 trucks; the trucks have all different sorts of signs on them. They [the motorcade] started out from Sinjhuang and made their rounds all around Taiwan. But there was nothing that I have personally seen that has been reported about this in the overseas news [on this]. No one has specifically reported about Su Beng and his work. Can you imagine the nearly 97 year old Su Beng, at this age still traveling around with his motorcade expressing his views?

This time around with this major Presidential election, he endorsed Presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen. However when he came to Los Angeles [last summer] I didn’t specifically ask him to talk about why he would endorse Tsai Ing-wen, who hasn’t taken a firm stand on the issue of Taiwan independence. Su Beng told me that we should just get her elected first and then decide what to do next.

Su Beng who is now up there in age, is still working so hard for Taiwan.

So today I made a special visit from Taipei to Su Beng’s residence.

As he was going all around Taiwan with the motorcade [recently] making its rounds with all the wind and the cold, he got a bit chilled and he ended up in a hospital because he wasn’t feeling quite well [he was a bit exhausted].

So now in the new year, he is feeling well enough to give an interview and I thank him for that. So dear viewers, during the interview keep in mind that every word, every sentence that he [Su Beng] says has a deeper meaning. When you listen to what Su Beng is saying you can’t just listen what to he says on the surface, you need to listen to the deeper meaning behind his words. He insights are valuable treasures for Taiwan. His viewpoint serves as a guidepost and is the cornerstone/foundation of theory [of Taiwan’s independence]. So for all of our friends whether you are in Taiwan or abroad, I feel that this is quite a valuable interview, a sort of reference material for you. If you find it interesting, I invite you to download it and save it as an important conversation.

Every foreign media outlet has reported that Taiwan’s election was successful, and that Tsai [Ing-wen] is a good model [for democracy]. However, on the inside there really were problems. On the surface it [the election] looked successful, [but] underneath the undercurrent [is that the] goal to pursue independence seems to be diminishing and under a drunken spell [like a drunken stupor and this] is a very serious problem. So in a moment I invite everyone to listen and learn from Mr. Su Beng [as he] talk[s] about his activities, perspectives and opinions as they relate to the election.

Ojisan*, how are you? So now the Taiwan Presidential election is over. We know that Ojisan, your motorcade has been working hard [...], continuously circulating the countryside. But we don’t see any reporting on this in the media. I’d like to ask you, on behalf of our listeners and friends, could you tell us during the Presidential election, while you and your motorcade drove around [Taiwan], what is it that you saw? And how did you run the motorcade?

SB: During this election, for about 2 months before the election, for every day, I circled around all of Taiwan with 5-6 propaganda trucks. In Taipei we circulated for about month [before]. When I’m in Taipei, I don’t really know about the circumstances in all of [other parts of] Taiwan but when I left Taipei and went to other places like central, eastern and southern Taiwan, or went the east, I was then able to see what was going on with the people of Taiwan and of course also the circumstances surrounding the election.

In the midst of all these things what touched me the most [left an impression on me]... Well this time of course [with] every place I went to I didn’t know about the legislative elections [or legislative candidates] or have any dealings/involvement with them.

The major purpose [of what I] was doing was for Taiwan, was for Tsai Eng-wen, to get her elected. [I felt that] this time if Tsai Eng-wen didn’t get elected, and if the KMT got into power again, China would keep pressing closer, [then they would] come dressed in suits. With their growing population, they would use [tactics of] penetration and infiltration of Taiwan to unify and I am against this circumstance [happening]. If that happens then Taiwan’s future would be very complicated.

When I went to the countryside [with the motorcade], I would leave from Taipei, Sinjhuang then to Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan, then to Kaohsiung, and then from Kaohsiung we would drive over to Taidong, and then from Taidong we’d go to Hualien, we’d go return and then follow this route again. We did this twice, and it was tough for everyone. All in all we had about 20 to 30 people. Every day everyone worked hard, toughed it out and felt tired, [but] in the end everyone did a good job.

The thing I noticed [about] the Democratic Progressive Party, during the election, well in Taipei you couldn’t tell, but if you went to the countryside to take a look, the focus was all on [promoting] the local legislative elections.

So the situation was like this, if you went to the countryside, each place had an election headquarters [for legislative candidates], sometimes you’d also see the Democratic Progressive Party had their own party headquarters/election headquarters, some places had an election headquarters for Tsai Ing-wen, but in looking at the overall circumstances in the countryside, you’d see that it was all signs for the Kuomintang, with photos of Ma Ying-jeou [the Kuomintang Presidential candidate], there were a lot of signs with his photo posted [around], and then there were photos of [candidates] who were running for the Legislative Yuan. I kept looking around for Tsai Ing-wen’s photo [signs with her photo as the Democratic Progressive Party Presidential candidate] and there really just about weren’t any.

SL: There weren’t any at all.

SB: Right. For example, if I went to Chiayi, Chiayi city, there would be signs for Tsai Ing-wen and those running for the Legislative Yuan. There was a sign of the two [Tsai and the legislative candidate] standing together there, but you didn’t see any photos [of Tsai by herself].

So when I went to the countryside the first thing you’d see was that the Kuomintang was running [for the Presidency] and the second [impression] is that there’s a local election [going on]. As for the Presidential elections, very few people mentioned [or discussed] it. That was the situation. I was worried about this. Democracy is something that everyone has to agree to [participate in]. Even Ma Ying-jeou needs to get votes. Most of the common people live in the countryside, and in the countryside if you don’t put [all] the signs for [all the candidates of] the Presidential election out front, I’d say that that’s a huge injustice/wrong. That was the result.

SL: Ojisan, I see that you made little flags for Tsai Ing-wen.

SB: Yes, yes.

SL: So you went around distributing the flags in the countryside?

SB: When I went to […] the east or west [coast], if I was in larger cities, I didn’t hand them out, giving them out in larger areas wouldn’t really have as much effect. I’d give them out when I was in the countryside, for example in Hsinchu or Miaoli, or the countryside of Chayi or Hualien, like the route from Taidong to Hualien [which] was all small villages. I went to each one, one by one [and gave out the flags]. When we went there [to those areas] we would first drive around the main roads, and we had people yelling slogans like “Taiwan and China are not the same. With this election you must vote for Taiwan.” And we’d give out the flags.

SL: In the beginning did people take [the flags]?

SB: In the beginning [people] didn’t really dare take them. In the beginning sometimes I didn’t dare distribute [the flags]. I’d distribute them and they’d [people would] just leave them, they wouldn’t take them, and then I’d have to pick up and collect them back one by one. I’d stay 2-3 days in each place, […] the second time I went [and drove through a village], then everyone would take them [the flags], and sometimes they would be fighting to grab one. That’s what it was like. In the beginning they didn’t know what propaganda truck it was [didn’t know what our propaganda truck’s message was].

SL: I see.

SB: You see we had two trucks with such big words written [on the side of them]. So everyone should’ve known but in the beginning they [people] didn’t know much about the President[ial] [election], so they didn’t dare take the flags.

SL: So those flags, all in all, how many did you make?

SB: All in all we made about 20,000 [flags]. In the end we only had these 2 left.

SL: Only these 2?

SB: In the end everyone was fighting for one [of the flags].

SL: Oh I see. So it seems that the Democratic Progressive Party, at the local level, seems like they put less effort on the [promotions for the Presidential] election

SB: The gap between Taipei and the countryside was too great. For example, Tsai Ing-wen had a headquarters in Banquiao. When she had meetings I’d attend and there were I’d say there were about 4000 to 5000 people there and up to 10,000 sometimes. You could see [the people were there] for [her] election. But if you went to the countryside for example, you wouldn’t see that [many people] and another thing, if [the candidates running for] the Legislative Yuan spoke publicly, they didn’t talk much about the President[ial] [candidates], they pretty much didn’t touch on that. At the end [of their speech] maybe they’d only say a few words saying please vote for [our] Presidential candidate. They had spoken for about 40-50 minutes [but] about their own personal items.

SL: Oh I see, so the news outlets didn’t report [on this].

SB: Very early on I’ve said that the media, on the outside seems pro-Kuomintang, but on the inside is really mostly Chinese. For example the China Times and Liberty Times [newspapers in Taiwan], the CEO may be a Taiwanese person, but the roots [of the organization] were from China. Since the election, up until now, there hasn’t been one [newspaper] that wasn’t [affiliated with the] Kuomintang. The Liberty Times, which is the one [newspaper] that leans most closely to the Democratic Progressive Party doesn’t dare raise any issues [relating to Taiwan independence]. [For example] whenever I raise the Taiwan independence issue they don’t report on it.

SL: I’d like to ask, you’ve gone all around Taiwan. Have you heard that the Kuomintang bought votes?

SB: Oh that [vote buying]. Yes. I did. It happened all over the place. For example in Hsinchu, Taidong, Chiayi or Kaohsiung, there were Taiwan Independence Association members [there], and if you listened what they [the members] had to say in terms of vote buying, it was not just the Kuomintang, but there were also some independent business persons who bought votes. Those were [the ones] bought by the Chinese Communists.

SL: So those were representatives of the Chinese Communists buying votes in Taiwan?

SB: They didn’t actually say anything about the Chinese Communist party, but they said here’s some money for you know… That is to say that other than the Kuomintang, there were some other free agented people who bought votes.

SL: So hearing you say this, that the Kuomintang helped the Chinese free agents, telling them where to buy votes. So they [Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party] cooperated.

SB: They were secretly working together [on the same assembly line] toward the same goal. So this is to say that Taiwanese people who have money are more or less looking toward China [for opportunities].

SL: Oh so speaking of this, people who do not have a strong a sense of “Taiwaneseness” (with only a budding sensibility of Taiwanese identity and independence) themselves, they could be easily be bought and then that would be a disaster.

SB: Right, and the Taiwanese people, truthfully speaking, you know, after World War II they were ruled by the Kuomintang. At the time the Kuomintang suppressed education, the youth and the society. They used their gestapo to suppress/control [people]. To manipulate the opinions of the Taiwanese people they not only used cultural, but political oppression, pressure from the secret police, [they did this] without people’s awareness [of it]. So the Taiwanese were brainwashed quite thoroughly by them.

And so now although we have a democracy, however, Taiwan’s democracy has now become like an ideology of a state without a government [i.e. no rule of law]. There’s no central core value. As a result everyone says [thinks] there’s democracy everywhere, [because] we can talk about what we want, everything can be talked about, but there is no main focal point. Consequently, Taiwan’s current situation is not that much different than when it was under the Kuomintang. The elections are elections for elections sake. It is not about what is good for Taiwan, how to improve for Taiwan’s future, or how to improve overall. It’s not like that, but for this election it’s been more about the party’s interests [and not about the betterment or future of Taiwan] and about which side is more advantageous.

SL: After this election you can see that media from all around the world have lauded Taiwan’s election, saying it was successful and that its democracy is a success. But this is like being under some sort of a “drunken spell” that covers up the true issues happening in Taiwan.

Another point I’d like to ask you about now is that those opposing the Kuomintang, are [mostly] focused on criticizing the weakness of the Kuomintang. It’s like when you have an illness and you are given antibiotics [as treatment] and get better but then you didn’t really improve your health. [It seems like] the Democratic Progressive Party has lost the soul of their party [or guiding mission] and the Kuomintang has lost the soul of their party.

SB: The Democratic Progressive Party, in my view, is an organization but it is lacking a great deal compared to the Kuomintang. Although the Kuomintang is a bad organization, they have 60-70 years of foundation. So for example, if you look at the [Kuomintang] party headquarters in more remote areas, their interactions/relationships with the people in the community is quite deep and long standing. [The relations between the central and local organizations are very close.] If they want to mobilize the people, they have their channels and they can go to the district wardens [who are affiliated with the Kuomintang]. Three quarters of those in local office are Kuomintang. The Kuomintang has a principle, which is “we represent the Republic of China” and their position is very clear, it is to rule Taiwan. Their strategy is that the Taiwanese will always be their peons and slaves.

As for their war tactics, there is a huge disparity between the Democratic Progressive Party, compared to Kuomintang.

What does the Democratic Progressive Party need to do, in my opinion? Their [party’s] ideas are not unified, so they have a lot of different factions. So if there are a lot of factions, when trying to mobilize people, they [the people] won’t work together.

This is something that I saw happen first hand.

SL: Ojisan, may I ask what factions or lack of cooperation?

SB: They were just not cooperating. For example, in this village if there was someone from [group] A, then someone from [group] B wouldn’t [work with them]. So to electing the President wasn’t possible, they [Democratic Progressive Party] were only focused on getting their own legislative yuan representatives elected.

*Oijisan is a Japanese term which means uncle

The TIAM will be out on the campaign trail

When I last spoke to Su Beng he said that he'd be taking the Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade to Tai Dong in December in a show of support of Tsai Ing-Wen, the Democratic Progressive Party Presidential candidate who will be campaigning there.

Here's the travel schedule of the Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade (TIAM) for the next few weeks:

12/07 9:00AM 台北出發→桃園→新竹→苗栗→台中 (住台中)
Start at 9:00 AM from Taipei→Taoyuan→ Hsinchu→Miaoli→Taichung

12/08 9:00AM 台中出發 台中宣傳 (住台中)
Start at 9:00 AM from Taichung. The TIAM will make its rounds in Taichung

12/09 9:00AM 台中出發→彰化→雲林→嘉義 (住嘉義)
Start at 9:00 AM from Taichung→Changhwa →Yulin→Chiayi

12/10 9:00AM 嘉義出發 嘉義宣傳 (住嘉義)
Start at 9:00 AM. The TIAM will make its rounds in Chiayi

12/11 AM9:00嘉義出發→台南→高雄 (住高雄)
Start at 9:00 AM from Chiayi→Tainan→Kaohsiung

12/12 9:00AM 高雄出發 高雄宣傳 (住高雄)
Start at 9:00 AM. The TIAM will make its rounds in Kaohsiung

12/13 9:00AM 高雄出發 高雄宣傳 (住高雄)
Start at 9:00 AM. The TIAM will make its rounds in Kaohsiung

12/14 台南成功大學(下午2點) (住高雄)
National Cheng Kung University in Tainan @ 2pm

12/15 9:00AM 高雄出發→台東 (住台東)
Start at 9:00 AM from Kaohsiung→Tai Dong

12/16 9:00AM 台東出發→玉里 (住玉里)
Start at 9:00 AM from Tai Dong→Yuli

12/17 9:00AM 玉里出發→花蓮 (住花蓮)
Start at 9:00 AM from Yuli→Hualien

12/18 9:00AM 花蓮出發 花蓮宣傳 (住花蓮)
Start at 9:00 AM from Hualien, The TIAM will make its rounds in Hualien

12/19 9:00AM 花蓮出發→高雄 (住高雄)
Start at 9:00 AM from Hualien→Kaohsiung

12/20 9:00AM 高雄出發→台中 (住台中)
Start at 9:00 AM from Kaohsiung→Taichung

12/21 9:00AM 台中出發→苗栗→新竹→桃園→台北
Start at 9:00 AM from Taichung→Miaoli→Hsinchu→Taoyuan→Taipei


Here are some photos from November 24th of Su Beng campaigning for Tsai Ing-Wen around Taipei:

November 24, 2011

On November 24th Su Beng went to pay his respects to Ong Jiao-Dong, the President of the United Formosans for Independence. Mr. Ong was also the founder of the Taiwan Youth Association in Japan which published the Taiwan Youth magazine.









An article written (in Chinese）about his visit recently appeared on MSN here.

In this article Su Beng is quoted saying that Mr. Ong dedicated about 50-60 years of his life to the Taiwan independence movement and that there are probably about only about 5 others like him, still alive, who have dedicated their lives to the cause.

He also said that the overseas Taiwan independence movement first started in Japan in the 1950s where a provisional government of the Republic of Taiwan was formed. Around that time, Mr. Ong founded the Taiwan Youth Association, which was a precursor to the United Formosans for Independence. Later he and someone else formed the Taiwan Youth Magazine. In 1959 Su Beng was asked to work with them on the Taiwan Youth Magazine. The magazine helped spread the Taiwan independence movement from Japan to the U.S.

Su Beng described Mr. Ong was an open-minded man. Su Beng admitted that while the two of them had different opinions and used different strategies, they were both working toward the same goal, which was independence for Taiwan.

The author of the article asked Su Beng: As the elders of the Taiwan independence movement pass away will the Taiwan independence movement lose its roots or direction?

Su Beng's response was that he doesn't think so, as long as the island of Taiwan exists and the people of Taiwan still have their will, it will continue. Though Su Beng said that he may one day soon join Mr. Ong up above, the Taiwan independence movement will not just disappear.

A Surprise for Su Beng

On November 9, 2011 a surprise music concert birthday event was planned for Su Beng's birthday. It was held at the Howard Civil Service International House (公務人力發展中心福華國際文教會館) in Taipei and about 700 people were in attendance.

I'm sure it must have been an enjoyable event for Su Beng because he is quite the music lover. In fact, he told me that as a student at Waseda, he was quite the classical music aficionado. Anytime a new classical music record was released he'd immediately run out to buy it. He said he had a collection of about 8,000 records at the time. Once he even pawned a personal item for cash so that he would have money to purchase records.




Su Beng and Linda Arrigo










Su Beng and Bin Hong singing.


A photo of Su Beng's maternal grandmother.




















A photo of Su Beng's Taiwan Independence Action motorcade.


A bronze bust of Su Beng made by Wen-teh Lin.


Su Beng sitting atop one of his Taiwan Independence Action motorcade propaganda trucks.


A close up of the bronze bust of Su Beng made by Wen-teh Lin.


A photo of the book cover, Conflict & Challenge: Lifestory of Su Beng (衝突與挑戰: 史明生命故事 作者蘇振明), which is an authorized Chinese language biography of Su Beng written by Professor Su Jen-Ming. The book also includes illustrations drawn by the author, Professor Su who is a professor of art.