A letter to former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) from his eldest daughter, Judy Linton (林奐均), was published on his anti-nuclear campaign Web site yesterday, as Lin’s indefinite hunger strike against the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant entered its second day.
Linton was the only survivor of an attack by on Feb. 28, 1980, that claimed the lives of her twin sisters and Lin’s mother at their home in Taipei.
The home was later converted into the Gikong Presbyterian Church, which is where Lin is staging his hunger strike in a bid to force the government to stop building the plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City.
Linton, who was only nine at the time of the murders, survived the attack despite being stabbed seven times. She moved to the US in August 1981, married an American and is now a mother of five.
The high-profile murders spawned a myriad of conspiracy theories, since they occurred eight days after Lin was indicted on sedition charges for his involvement in the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident. They remain unsolved.
“You have always been a great father to me and a great grandfather to my children... Your love has made us stronger and more resilient,” Linton wrote in the letter on Monday, in which she urged her father to think of the faces of his granddaughters whenever he felt like giving up his campaign.
“Your life has brought strength to these children and losing you would undoubtedly leave an irreparable hole in their lives. Please keep on striving [for your cause] and stay in our lives,” she wrote.
Linton wrote that while her father’s endeavor to pursue his ideals even at the cost of his life was what made him extraordinary, he was “not ready to enter eternity.”
“Father, although I have a lifetime to think about the things you have said to me in your letters, there are still many things in life that I want to discuss with you in person. Please, please give me more opportunities to talk to you,” she added.
The letter was published the day after Linton’s mother, Fang Su-min (方素敏), visited her husband at the church on Tuesday night.
Fang arrived at about 7:25pm and stayed for one-and-a-half hours, after which she left without speaking to anyone outside.
Prior to beginning his fast, Lin said that although his actions weighed heavily on his wife and daughter, they still supported him.
National Taiwan University physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) — an independent aspirant for the Taipei mayoral elections — on Tuesday said that the 73-year-old Lin’s health could be at risk just two days into the hunger strike.
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