On Sept. 20, 1964, Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) was arrested for treason for advocating democracy in Taiwan. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 1965 and put under house arrest later the same year after receiving a special pardon.
On Jan. 2, 1970, Peng left his family and began a 22-year exile.
At a book launch in Taipei yesterday, the 86-year-old shared his successful escape from the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime 39 years ago, which he describes in his book titled A Perfect Escape.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“I often ask myself: If I had made a different decision, what would have become of me?” Peng, former senior presidential adviser under the Democratic Progressive Party administration, told an audience yesterday.
After Japan’s defeat in World War II, Peng, who at the time was studying political science at the University of Tokyo, had to decide whether to stay in Japan or return to Taiwan.
If he had stayed in Japan, he would have had to change his Chinese name and would probably have ended up teaching, practicing law, writing or working in the public sector, Peng said.
“But I loved this country [Taiwan] so much that I wanted to go home … It did not take me long to decide,” he said.
Filled with patriotism and ideals, Peng was in for a major disappointment after he saw how the KMT was governing Taiwan.
Peng returned to Taiwan in 1946 and studied political science at National Taiwan University. In 1951, he obtained a scholarship to study at McGill University in Montreal. He was offered a job there, but turned it down. He studied law at the University of Paris and obtained a doctor of laws degree in 1954.
Peng said the KMT government tried to recruit him after his return from Paris. But after witnessing the 228 Incident, the imposition of Martial Law and the White Terror, he had to decide between serving under the KMT and securing wealth and status, or following his conscience and fighting for freedom and democracy.
In 1964, Peng was arrested along with two of his students, Hsieh Tsung-min (謝聰敏) and Wei Ting-chao (魏廷朝), for publishing the Declaration of Formosan Self-Salvation.
For his own safety and that of his family, Peng said he decided to flee the country. With help from various individuals — Peng said he had to be careful with details in the book to protect the privacy of individuals and respect the wish of those who helped him but wanted to remain anonymous — his escape took him through Hong Kong, Bangkok, the Soviet Union and Denmark before he arrived in Stockholm, where he was granted political asylum.
Peng later moved to the US with held from his friends and joined the campaign for Taiwan independence.
Peng yesterday lamented the dramatic change in Taiwan’s political climate since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was elected last year, saying the country seemed to be gradually returning to the old days when the KMT was in power.
“Can we accept that the eight years of freedom and democracy we enjoyed were just a short episode? Is it normal to have a foreign regime govern this land? We must carefully think about that,” he said.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS