Taiwanese yesterday offered messages of condolence after Taiwanese independence advocate Su Beng (史明) died late on Friday at the age of 100.
Doctors said he died from multiple organ failure.
Su Beng Education Foundation chairwoman Huang Min-hung (黃敏紅) thanked people who offered their condolences on Facebook.
Photo provided by Avanguard Publishing
“Su lived a long and fulfilling life, he does not owe Taiwan anything. Now it is up to Taiwan to determine its own path,” Huang told a news conference in Taipei.
Su’s last words were that “Taiwan must win, and to do so, [President] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) must win a second term,” Huang said.
Su had no children or wealth, having dedicated his life and fortune to the independence movement, Huang said, adding that the foundation would find a suitable location for a memorial.
Many people left messages on Su’s Facebook page, thanking him for his efforts to promote democracy and independence.
Tsai late on Friday wrote on Facebook that she had just visited Su two days earlier, and that while his condition was critical, she had not expected him to pass away so soon.
They had Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner together every year, Tsai said, adding that she would leave a chair for him at next year’s dinner table to commemorate his life of dedication.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that Su Beng had dedicated his life to Taiwan, not only writing about its history, but also forgoing personal pleasures and dedicating his time to bringing about Taiwanese autonomy.
“We must cherish his memory and legacy, and guard it well, so that our progeny can be independent,” the premier said.
The Democratic Progressive Party tipped its hat to Su Beng for his efforts and said in a statement that it would continue efforts to reinforce the concept of Taiwanese sovereignty based on its Resolution on Taiwan’s Future.
Su Beng was born to a wealthy family in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) on Nov. 9, 1918.
He left Taiwan to study at Waseda University in Japan, where he seemed to adopt Marxism. After graduating in 1942, he went to China, where he worked undercover as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) anti-Japanese efforts.
He returned to Taiwan in 1949 because he was discontented with the CCP’s actions, and since then pushed for Taiwanese independence.
In 1952, he was a fugitive from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) under Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) because of a plot to assassinate Chiang.
He stowed away on a boat to Japan, which gave him political asylum, and from 1952 to 1993 he operated a noodle shop in Tokyo, the proceeds of which he used to promote Taiwanese independence.
While there, he also began writing Taiwan’s 400-Year History (台灣人四百年史).
Named Shih Chao-hui (施朝暉) at birth, he changed his name to Su Beng — which means “historically clear” in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) — to underline the importance of having a clear understanding of history.
Su Beng returned to Taiwan in 1993 after martial law ended and his status as a political dissident was lifted.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat