Former representative to Thailand Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) died of cancer on Thursday last week at the age of 68. As a valiant fighter for Taiwan’s freedom and democracy, he died without regret.
Lee first joined the opposition movement under the influence of the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident. After receiving a master’s degree from National Taiwan University (NTU) in 1980, he went abroad to study in the US, where he received a master’s degree in healthcare management from Harvard University in 1981.
During his time in the US, he came to know Taiwanese revolutionaries such as Cary Hung (洪哲勝) and Kuo Bei-hung (郭倍宏). In 1982, he established the North America Taiwanese Collegian organization and in 1983 he joined the World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI), where he served as publisher of the North America Taiwanese Collegian’s magazine Taioan Hakseng/Thoivan Hoksang (Taiwan Student, 台灣學生). He went on to become secretary-general of the Taiwanese Association of America — USA and was blacklisted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.
In 1988, Lee gained a doctorate in health economics from the University of North Carolina and became an associate professor at the University of South Dakota. The following year he was appointed to teach at NTU, but could not return to Taiwan because his name was on the KMT government’s blacklist.
In early 1990, Lee became vice chairman of the WUFI, and in July of the same year he smuggled himself back to Taiwan, where he had photographs taken of himself in various places and contributed to magazines published by the dangwai (黨外, “outside the party”) opposition movement. He was arrested in September 1991, but was later released after Article 100 of the Criminal Code was repealed, thus abolishing the charge of sedition for Taiwanese independence advocates.
In 2004, then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wanted to run for a second term. Several media polls initially showed his support lagging more than 30 percent behind the KMT.
Even within the DPP, few believed that Chen could defeat the rival pan-blue camp’s team of the KMT’s Lien Chan (連戰) and the People First Party’s James Soong (宋楚瑜).
However, Lee, under the slogan of “Yes! Taiwan,” overcame dissenting voices in the DPP headquarters. With his affable character, he shuttled among party factions and organized the massive “Hands Across Taiwan” event of Feb. 28, 2004, which was attended by more than 2 million people. The success of this event rallied the pan-green camp behind Chen’s campaign and contributed to its eventual victory.
If Chen had lost the election, Lien and Soong would have brought the KMT back to power. Lien and Soong were both friendly to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), so Taiwan might have become a second Hong Kong. The KMT and its local factions would have become unbeatable. The gap between the rich and the poor would have become ever wider, leaving no future for the young. By preventing this, it would be fair to say that Lee became Taiwan’s savior.
Lee has left us, but his spirit lives on. Like mathematics professor and democracy advocate Chen Wen-chen (陳文成), who was found dead on the NTU campus in 1981, Lee was a son of Taiwan.
Lee gave up his comfortable academic life in the US to make a risky return to his homeland. For the sake of Taiwan’s freedom and democracy, he was even ready to risk his life.
Teng Hon-yuan is an alumnus of National Taiwan University.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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