On April 24, 1970, Peter Ng (黃文雄), then a 33 year-old doctoral student from Taiwan, raised a gun and prepared to fire a shot at future ROC president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) in front of the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
A US security guard swiftly struck him on the elbow causing him to miss his mark. He failed to complete his mission of killing the person he described as the successor to the "dictatorship of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石)."
Ever since that dramatic moment in 1970, Ng's life has never been the same. Even now, after 20 years living as a fugitive and currently facing charges of entering Taiwan illegally more than four years ago, the incident continues to dog his life.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PETER NG
A decision on his illegal entry is scheduled to be handed down today.
The background
Ng went to the US in 1964 as a journalism graduate from Taiwan to study at the University of Pittsburgh. For the first six years he was there, he was not considered to be as active in the Taiwan independence movement as many other Taiwanese students in the US at the time were.
In fact, it had been Ng's brother-in-law, T.T. Deh (鄭自財) -- the former secretary-general of the World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI) and the organizer of the attempt on Chiang Ching-kuo's life -- who brought Ng into the conspiracy.
In April 1970, Chiang Ching-kuo, then the vice premier of the ROC, visited the US to meet President Richard Nixon.
It was an anxious time for Taiwan, for Nixon was keen on rapprochement with Mao Zedong in China.
It was also a time of global turbulence -- the Vietnam War was raging and international security was under constant threat by terrorist groups who appealed to violence in pursuit of independence.
Inspired by the success of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Irish Republican Army in using violence to capture international attention to their aspiration for statehood, Deh, Ng, his sister and another Taiwan independence activist decided to take matters into their own hands by trying to assassinate Chiang during his US visit.
The night before the attempt, the four met at the Dehs' home to finalize the details. As the moment drew closer, the most difficult decision was to choose who would actually fire the gun.
"We were all aware of the consequences [of our actions]. It was a decision that could cost us our careers, our families or even our lives," Deh recalled. "I told them I would do it since I was the organizer. But Peter, who was the only unmarried person out of the four of us, said he would do it. I knew he was worried about his sister -- my wife -- and our two little children."
The act
After the shot was fired at the entry to New York's Plaza hotel, where Chiang was scheduled to deliver a speech, Ng was wrestled to the ground and immediately arrested. He had failed to hit his mark. Deh, who came to Ng's side on hearing the shot, was also arrested at the same time. At the time of his arrest, Ng was a doctoral candidate at Cornell University in upstate New York.
Having been caught in the act, Ng pleaded guilty on charges of attempted murder. Deh, who pleaded innocent, was eventually convicted after a WUFI colleague testified in court that he had given the weapon to Deh for the assassination.
WUFI, a group of overseas Taiwanese supporting independence, had been working to raise international concern about the issue of Taiwan independence.
The attempt on Chiang's life prompted diverse reactions within the organization.
A group of WUFI members were quick to voice their support for Ng and Deh after their arrest. However, leaders of the WUFI opted to distance the group from the assassination for fear of a clampdown by the ROC government.
Their attitude deeply hurt WUFI members sympathetic to the would-be assassins and especially the two then detained in jail.
"Independence has been our common goal. Why should the two of us shoulder all the res-ponsibility?" Deh asked, describing their frustrations while under detention.
After concerted fundraising efforts by Taiwanese students in the US, the court in charge of the case allowed Deh out on US$100,000 bail, while Ng was released on bail of US$110,000.
Before the court could convict the two of the attempted assassination of Chiang, Ng and Deh fled the US and went into hiding.
On the lam
One day before his conviction, Deh fled to Sweden, and successfully applied for political asylum there. However, he enjoyed only one year of freedom in Sweden before he was extradited back to the US and spent 22 months in jail for the failed assassination.
Ng, on the other hand, disappeared for more than 20 years after his escape in 1971.
"I worked as a gardener, carpenter, factory worker. I also worked on farms and for publishers. I even lectured at a university for a friend," Ng said. "It's not so much hardship as you might imagine. Everything was fine except that I missed Taiwan very much."
In 1991, when Taiwan's statute of limitations on the attempted assassination expired, Deh returned to the country. He did so without a visa, an action the government regards as illegal.
After almost 30 years away from home, Ng also made a quiet return sometime in 1996.
"I felt strongly that I had to come back to see my mother, who was critically ill," said Ng.
Deh, who divorced Ng's sister after his release from US prison, is now remarried. His former brother-in-law Ng remains single.
"Lots of my friends want to arrange dates for me. They hope I will marry as soon as possible. I feel funny because I myself do not care whether I marry or not," Ng said, laughing.
Ng said his unsettled lifestyle was not the reason for his not getting married. He said, however, it was once an obstacle for him to have children.
"I always believe children should be taken care of by their parents. And this was something I was unable to do," Ng said.
Asked whether he thinks of having a family now that he has settled back in Taiwan, he shook his head and said: "The quality of my sperm might not be so good anymore."
Another jail term
The "illegal" return to Taiwan landed Deh in jail for another year. In fact, Deh was not the only one who has been imprisoned for illegal entry. Many other independence activists who had been blacklisted by the government and had been refused visas to return to their homeland were forced to return the same way.
In the early 1990s, many of them had sought alternative means to come back to Taiwan, and have also been convicted under Taiwan's National Security Law (國家安全法).
Ng, reportedly the last on the blacklist to come back to Taiwan, is also being tried under this law. Today, the Taipei District Court is to hand down its decision on Ng's charge of illegal entry.
Since his return, Ng has dedicated himself to various social campaigns and is now president of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (台灣人促進會).
Ng said he has tried to prove the unconstitutionality of the act in previous court hearings by citing international human rights standards.
He describes Taiwan's legal/constitutional framework as "surreal," adding: "If this was any other country, this [case] would be big news. But here you see the results of Taiwan's international isolation."
Awaiting the verdict, Ng said he is not worried about the possibility of going to jail.
"It could be a chance for me to assess prison welfare," he said.
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