The 98-year-old Marxist Taiwan independence advocate Su Beng (史明) yesterday urged Taiwanese to arm themselves with knowledge about pursuing independence, while saying that his assistance to president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was strategic, during the launch of his memoir that he spent 20 years writing.
Arriving in a wheelchair at the book launch in Taipei, Su was greeted by hundreds of supporters who packed the room with applause and shouts of “wansui” (“live long”), while a long line of people queued up to wait for Su to sign books they had purchased.
Born to a wealthy family in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) in 1918, Su obtained a degree in political economics from Waseda University in Tokyo, where he became a Marxist.
Photo: Lo pei-der, Taipei Times
In 1942, after graduating, Su traveled to China to join the communist revolution, only to be disappointed by the Chinese Communist Party’s brutality and ethnic manipulation, leading to his escape back to Taiwan in 1949.
However, his personal experience of years of living and fighting side-by-side with the Chinese communists turned Su into an advocate for Taiwanese independence.
Convinced that the then-authoritarian Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime could only be overthrown by an armed revolution, Su was engaged in several bombing plots.
However, a failed attempt to assassinate then-president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) led to Su’s exile to Japan.
In recent years, Su has campaigned for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), though he, as a Marxist and an advocate of Taiwanese independence, might not fully agree with the mainstream values of the party and of Tsai.
“Certainly, I have expended much effort on Tsai’s election campaign this time, because I wanted her to win,” Su told the audience. “Why so? There is only one reason: I do not want Taiwan to be taken over by China.”
“Socialism and revolutionary theories are not just about fighting. Sometimes, you have to compromise for Taiwan’s future, it is high-level strategy,” Su added.
He said that some people criticize him for what he was doing, accusing him of wanting to profit from Tsai’s election, despite having held his ideologies since when he was younger.
“Whoever makes such statements does not know how things are. I would only take it as a joke,” Su said.
He said that allowing the KMT to win is no different from allowing China to take over Taiwan, because the KMT and China are partners, adding that one key reason the KMT is still able to have an influence in Taiwan is because people do not study enough.
“I beg you to read more,” Su said.
“It is important to arm yourself with knowledge, remain loyal to your ideologies and stay in solidarity with your comrades,” he said.
DPP Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), DPP legislators Pasuya Yao (姚文智), Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) and Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), and New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) all attended the book launch.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS