The woman behind the man

I spoke to Su Beng's assistant, Bin Hong last Friday. She has been kindly giving me weekly updates, sometimes even several times a week regarding Su Beng's condition. Since Su Beng took ill, she has been traveling back and forth between Taiwan and Japan. In recent years, she has taken over the responsibility of handling the Taiwan Independence Action (獨立台灣會) Motorcade in Taipei. Since 1994, every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, around 3pm the motorcade's propaganda trucks and taxis make rounds in Taipei city and its outskirts (I wrote about it here.). I've sat on the top of one of the Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade propaganda trucks as it went on its rounds around Taipei. I've seen and heard Bin Hong at the helm, speaking over a megaphone- her powerful voice reverberating through the streets of Taipei as she shouts out these slogans: "Taiwan for the Taiwanese people." "Taiwan is not the Republic of China!" "The Taiwanese people must step up and be the masters of their own fate."

She has been there at all of my interviews with Su Beng, which for the most part, are conducted at his home in Sinjhuang. She has facilitated much of my contact and correspondence with Su Beng. She set him up on Skype. She set up his facebook account. And she's been helping me to get all the documentation that I need. I am truly indebted to her and grateful for all of her cooperativeness over these past FIVE (!) years.

Last Friday she was back in Tokyo, hoping that Su Beng would be released from the hospital in a few days time and that she'd to be able to accompany him back to Taipei. Bin Hong told me that though Su Beng's condition is relatively stable, he had had a fever the week before and that the doctors aren't exactly sure what may have caused it, so they've decided to keep him in the hospital for further observation for a few more weeks. So it looks like Su Beng won't be able to return to Taipei until mid-December.

Su Beng and the Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade making rounds to commemorate its 10 year anniversary in 2005.

There are also two other Taiwan Independence Action Motorcade groups making rounds on the weekends in Kaohsiung (which is located in southern Taiwan) and Tai Chung (which is located in central Taiwan).

Meanwhile a Taipei Times reporter recently wrote this article about Su Beng: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/12/01/2003459876