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Shih has a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome

The campaign to mobilize one million people in a demonstration calling for the ouster of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is in full swing. The reason why former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德), the ringleader of the campaign, went from being a leader of the dangwai democracy movement to calling for the overthrow of a localized government is worth investigating.

Some believe he was unhappy at not being appointed to Chen's team of national advisors. Others say that his behavior is the action of a lonely has-been revolutionary. Others believe he suffers from the after-effects of totalitarianism and is simply used to solving political issues using popular movements. All these arguments make sense, but they don't seem to hit the nail on the head. Maybe Shih suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, and now takes the side of those who "kidnapped" him decades ago and turns his wrath on pro-localization forces.

Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological condition in which captives held for a long time begin to identify with their captors and even resist rescue attempts. There are several characteristics of Stockholm Syndrome. First, hostages must feel that the captor is threatening their lives. Second, the captors may show the hostage some small kindness. Third, hostages must be isolated from any viewpoint apart from the hostage taker's. Fourth, hostages must believe that escape is impossible. These four characteristics apply to Shih's experiences after his imprisonment in 1962.

In 1959, Shih was admitted to the Army Artillery School. He once said the reason he wanted to attend a military school was that he wanted to stage a coup d'etat against the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) regime.

In 1962, Shih was accused of involvement in the Taiwan Independence Alliance (台灣獨立聯盟) and was sentenced to life on charges of rebellion. In 1966, he is believed to have written a letter to Chiang asking for a pardon.

In a polite letter, Shih wrote that he was filled with remorse over his past mistakes. He also said that he held the erroneous belief that seeking independence was an effective approach to saving himself and other Taiwanese and that made him violate the law. He stressed that it was foolish to insist on independence, and after admitting his mistakes, he heaped praise on Chiang.

If Shih's letter was intended to beg for mercy only, he would have continued upholding his original ideals upon his release. Facts point to the contrary.

In 1979, Shih was arrested again and sentenced to life imprisonment for a second time following the Kaohsiung Incident.

When defending himself at the court martial in 1980, Shih argued that Taiwan should be independent and that it had in fact already been independent for more than three decades. In 1995, in his capacity as DPP chairman, Shih announced that if the DPP came to power, Taiwan must not and would not declare independence, and that the party would seek reconciliation with other parties.

Judging from what he has said and done since 1980, Shih has done what he said in his letter to Chiang -- relinquished his belief in independence and adopted a new "view" of Taiwan independence.

Shih's letter asking for forgiveness indicates that he gave up on Taiwan independence and began to identify with an anti-Taiwan independence stance in 1966. His letter could thus have been intended to beg for a pardon, or it could be evidence of Stockholm Syndrome. If this argument holds, then Shih's shift from pro-independence to opposing independence and localization all of a sudden makes sense.

Kuo Cheng-deng is the director of the Graduate Institute of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine at National Yang-Ming University and a director of the Taiwan Heart Association.

Translated by Daniel Cheng
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