A pathfinder seeking recognition for an internationally isolated Taiwan, Wei Yung (魏鏞), former chairman of the Cabinet's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC), died on March 3. He was 68.
In 1975, Wei became the first non-US citizen to be appointed National Fellow at the prestigious Hoover Institution in Stanford University.
The next year, he published his "multi-system nations" and "dual recognition" theories, which triggered widespread debate and had a definitive impact on the Republic of China's (ROC) foreign and cross-strait policies.
The influence of Wei's "multi-system nations" theory arguably reached even the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), who advanced the "one country, two systems" formula for China to unify with Taiwan in 1981.
In his paper Recognition of Divided States, published in 2000, Wei pointed out how the Beijing authorities subtly altered his original "multi-system nations" concept.
He wrote: "They have borrowed the idea but have skillfully adjusted the content of `multi-system nations' to suit their own political framework and purposes, i.e., the two systems in the `One Country Two Systems' scheme were merely socio-economic institutions without international personalities."
Wei obtained his PhD in political science from the University of Oregon and taught in the US for many years. He returned to Taiwan on the invitation of President Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) to serve in the government in 1975.
Described by his long-time secretary Joanne Liu (
The purpose of Wei's "dual recognition" theory was to create space for countries to build official ties with the ROC and the People's Republic of China (PRC), said Liu, now an assistant professor at National Taiwan University's Department of Social Work.
The unification-minded Wei had strived to produce a theory for the international community to accept the ROC and the PRC as two political entities by inventing new concepts in international law, Liu said.
For Wei, Taiwan's unification with China was a matter for the future. What he cared about the most, however, was how Taiwan might break out of its isolation in the international community.
Wei's most sought-after goal was for the international community to finally recognize Taiwan, Liu said.
Wei served as RDEC chairman for 12 years and was a KMT legislator from 1993 to 1996. However, an unsubstantiated accusation by opponents that he had been peeping in the legislature's women's toilets irrevocably damaged his image and virtually ended his political career.
Wei's attempt to seek a second legislative term faltered because of the scandal. People close to Wei, however, were shocked by the rumor and said it was "completely unimaginable" that the stoic official would do such a thing.
During his decades-long service in government, Wei had a reputation for his strict attitude towards subordinates. But his honest style also earned respect.
"Wei was not good at socializing with reporters. He never gave gifts or leaked information to them in order to maintain good relationships with them," Liu said.
Summing up his life in his will to his wife, Wei said: "I have never had doubts or fears in this life."
Letters of condolence from renowned academics flowed to Wei's widow after his death. Among them were David Lampton, the former president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, Thomas Volgy, the executive director of the International Studies Association, and Ezra Vogel (
One scholar who often pursued questions with Wei relating to sovereignty recalled: "He was constantly probing for constructive approaches to resolve issues, not to highlight obstacles that made progress impossible."
Another academic wrote in his condolence letter about Wei: "He was a man of great talent and great knowledge and had the ability to enrich the lives of all he knew."
Wei once talked about academics' lives through a parable. Some scholars were like ants, which sought food day and night and stored it up. Some were like bees, which collected pollen and turned it into honey.
The uncreative ant-like scholars could only gather pieces of knowledge, while bee-like scholars had the ability to produce "original ideas" out of the materials they had harvested, Wei said.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS