Su Beng's 2011 US Visit: early July dates

This weekend, Su Beng will be in San Diego, CA for the Taiwanese American Conference- West Coast from July 1-4.

Appearances are in the works for him in Boston, Washington D.C., New Jersey, New York City's Manhattan, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

I recently confirmed that on July 20th, 7pm-9pm he will be appearing at the New York Taiwan Center, which is located in Flushing, NY at: 137-44 Northern Blvd Flushing, New York 11354.

About Su Beng's 2011 US Visit

Su Beng's U.S. Cross Country Trips

In the 1980s and 90s Su Beng began making annual trips to North America, Europe and Brazil in an effort to reach out to the overseas Taiwanese community worldwide.

During his trips to the U.S., he initially traveled across country by air, and then by bus. Later he decided that driving across country would be more convenient, and at around the age of seventy-something, he got himself a driver's license, bought a used car and drove himself across the country!

Just as he had done when he fled from China back to Taiwan in 1949, Su Beng prepared a large bag of manto (a type of Chinese bread), for his cross country trip. When he escaped from the Chinese Communists and out of China at the end of World War II, he subsisted on a big bag of dehydrated manto which he had prepared for his journey.

One time the used car that Su Beng was driving across country broke down and he ended up living out of it as he waited for an auto repair shop to order the broken engine part.

Stories like this inspired a young Taiwanese American girl to write an amateur screenplay in high school about this legendary man that her father had told her about.

And there are more stories out there from the Taiwanese individuals families that befriended Su Beng and opened up their homes to him. I do hope that Su Beng has a chance to reconnect with many of these old friends during his current visit.

Su Beng plans to visit the United States in late June!

I just learned that Su Beng will be making a trip to the United States from Taiwan in late June. He will be in the United States for about a month and as far as I know he is planning to visit Los Angeles, San Diego, Michigan, Buffalo, Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. This is certainly not a comprehensive list of all the places that he will visit on his month long visit. This is all very exciting! The last time he visited the United States was nearly 20 years ago.

Runaway

I recently completed the first draft of a book proposal for Su Beng's memoir. For those of you who don't know, a book proposal is basically an author's business plan for his/her book. Who knew that you could do this? I certainly didn't. I thought that I'd have to write the entire book before finding a publisher. That's what has to be done for works of fiction, but nonfiction is different. I had no idea how these things worked when I started this project. I simply did not know how the publishing industry works. But I've learned, and I'm still learning.

Writing this book proposal has of course required me to work on the basic nuts and bolts of the book, such as its table of contents and chapter titles. But it's more than just that. How do I tell the story of this man's life in an engaging way?

Rather than writing a straight chronology of Su Beng's life, I've decided to start off with something compelling in the first chapter which leads back to the beginning.

On Sunday I spoke to Su Beng via Skype about the first chapter. There were some details that I needed for the chapter. I also asked for his feedback, and thoughts on it.

I'm still uncovering things about his man's life. Su Beng has been writing his autobiography in Chinese. He's shared these writings with me but since I can't really read Chinese characters, I've been working with someone to read and translate them for me. In the process, I've discovered a few surprising things.

For instance, Su Beng has told me that he left for Japan during what would have been his fifth year in middle school, the year he was to graduate. Also, his choice to study politics and economics at Waseda University in Tokyo, was against the expectations of his family, who had expected him to study something more practical.

But there's more to the story. Su Beng had actually planned to secretly run away from home to Japan. He was all packed and prepared; he had bought a large luggage trunk for the trip, and as he waited at the boat terminal in Keelung, he was spotted by a relative who also happened to be there. Seeing Su Beng there alone with this huge piece of luggage, it was obvious that he was running off without the consent of his family, so the relative intervened and called Su Beng's family. Su Beng's mother insisted that he come home, but it was his grandmother who said that they should let him go; she realized that Su Beng had made up his mind to go and that there was nothing that she or anyone else could do to stop him. And so she gave him her blessing to go and it was her, Su Beng's grandmother, that paid for his tuition and monthly allowance while he was at Waseda.

Part V: The challenges of the ART’s limited resources

An Interview with Professor Tsay, Chairman of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan (ART)

FL: How did you get the permit to set up a base in front of the Legislative Yuan?

PT: At the beginning of the sit-in, we had to fight against the police department for our rights to freedom of speech and expression, and to be on the street. They randomly issued us fines of NT$30,000 based on sanitary violations. In 2009 the fines totaled NT$840,000. We have convinced them through our disciplined action that we are practicing a nonviolent struggle. We also asked DPP city councilpersons and representatives to help by exerting pressure on the city police department and on the Legislative Yuan, respectively. More importantly, we have received support from everyday people. Taiwanese people have donated money to pay off the fines.

Gradually, the police department came to a mutual understanding with us and we got a permit from the city government which required paying a deposit of NT$30,000 into an account of the Taipei City government for a permit to stay on the street for two days. These funds were refunded to us almost 45 days later.

FL: So is the NT$30,000 deposit something separate and different than the NT$30,000 of fines for sanitary violations?

PT: Yes, they are different.

We now must pay NT$660,000 so that we can have permit to stay on the street continuously without any disruption. The amount of NT$660,000 is calculated on the base of a 45-day period.

FL: Has the ART paid or raised enough money to entirely paid the NT$660,000 fee? Will there be any further fees since the ART has been staging a sit-in for over 900 days? Will there be any further fees that the ART has to pay for a continuous sit-in?

PT: The fee is required by Taipei City Government regulations. We had a fund raising dinner last year. Most of the money raised has been used to meet this regulation requirement. However, we have become short for daily operational funds. We believe that the KMT is using the tactics of sucking up our monetary resources in order to push us away from the continuous street sit-in. We do not know what kind of fees or fines are to be paid under any accusations from the police department in the future. We are determined to continue the street sit-in in order to accumulate sufficient momentum for all reforms of the KMT system in the interest of Taiwan’s citizens.

FL: What sorts of expenses does the ART have now? What will people's donations to the ART be used for?

PT: We have one part-time and one full-time employee, rent an office for receiving telephones and mails, a small warehouse for storage, and offer free lunch boxes to volunteer workers and participants at the sit-in. Most of the money has been spent on the protest activities to prepare direct marketing materials, booklets, posters, etc. Sometimes, there are expenses to run an advertisement in a newspaper to disseminate rally information, which takes a chunk of our limited resources. Often we send text messages to supporters inviting them to attend flash rallies. The costs of sending these text messages have accumulated to a monthly fee that was beyond our expectations.

FL: If people would like to support the work that the ART is doing where can they send their donations?

PT: We certainly welcome donations. We do need the financial support of our friends as we work to promote awareness about the fight for human rights and democracy in Taiwan.

Anyone who wants to support the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan can wire their funds to:

E.Sun Commercial Bank, Ltd. Taipei, Taiwan (SWIFT Code: ESUNTWTP), Account No.: 0532-940-006394, payable to title of Alliance of Reference for Taiwan.

Any assistance is highly appreciated. Thank you for supporting our work to achieve democracy and freedom in Taiwan.

Part IV: The work of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan

At the Wednesday night seminars attendees sing these unofficial anthems of Taiwan: Formosa Taiwan (台灣翠青)- at the beginning and Ocean Country (海洋國家)- at the end.

An Interview with Professor Tsay, Chairman of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan (ART)

FL: What are some of the regular activities happening at the base in front of the Legislative Yuan?

PT: In the first two years of the sit-in, many of our protests were directed at the KMT regime, who allowed officials to behave irresponsibly. After the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was defeated in the 2008 presidential election, the ART took on the role of opposing the KMT and encouraging the Taiwanese to fight on an individual basis.

After the DPP regained its strength, we took on the role of educating the public about civil rights and nonviolent struggle. Every Wednesday night, we offer a “Taiwanese Self-Liberation Movement Seminar” at the base for the public. Prominent community leaders and scholars are invited to present their ideas and to encourage citizens to engage in public affairs. Su Beng has been one of our speakers. At the base, we also receive volunteers who want to sign-up, petitions against injustice policies, donations for charities and appointments for discussions.

FL: What are these volunteers signing up for? Are people signing up to be volunteers of ART?

PT: People sign up to be volunteers of ART. Some people from other cities come to Taipei to talk to me and the volunteers help to make these appointments. The subjects of discussions range in a full spectrum. We also make appointments for invited speakers.

FL: What are some of the Alliances current projects?

PT: One of the major projects of the ART is to share the writings and thoughts about nonviolent struggle by Dr. Gene Sharp of Harvard University and the Albert Einstein Institution. His writings and thought are rooted in the philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi in India and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the USA.

We offer lectures, seminars, speeches and forums to anyone interested in this subject. There have even been discussion groups of nonviolent struggle formed on the Internet. Civil rights organizations are especially encouraged to focus on local issues.

In order to quickly disseminate information about nonviolent struggles, a facebook group has been formed for general discussion. When local issues such as the government’s forceful collection farmer’s lands, and abuse of kids in schools, have surfaced, the Internet is an efficient way to distribute the information. We invite Civil rights organizations to participate in our programs.

As the result of forceful seizure of farmers' lands, the government reclaims the titles of the lands first and then rents the land to groups who want to develop the land. Usually the farmers’ are only paid for their lands at cost, which is far less than the market price. If a farmer does not agree on the price, the money offered by the government after seizing his land will be deposited in a bank account under supervision of a court. The farmer's house or building would then be torn down and the farmer would be kicked off his land.

One of the ART’s special projects is to create the “Taiwan Justice Action Church” in cooperation with the Taiwan Presbyterian Church. We call this church a “Street Church” that will give prayer services on the street and open Sunday services at the Taipei 28 Memorial Park in Taipei City and the Taichung Park in Taichung City. Also, the church is intended to provide prayers and services when the police show up to break up a crowd of protesters.

FL: What are some of the social movements/protests that the Alliance is currently involved in?

PT: We have assumed the leading responsibility for the nonviolent struggle against the ROC system. There are so many social movements in Taiwan on topics such as environmental protection issues, indigenous people rights, and judicial reform, etc. If there is already a group taking the lead on a particular issue, we will be there to give our support. If not, then we will take the lead. We want to demonstrate that nonviolent struggle is a realistic alternative and strategy instead of a military struggle against an oppressive system.

FL: What are some of the more notable rallies/protests that the Alliance has participated in?

PT: We successfully used nonviolent actions to put pressure on the Legislative Yuan to force KMT member Lee Ching-An (李慶安) to resign from her post after about 300 days of denying that she holds a US passport and the parliament’s refusal to take any actions on this issue.

We took the lead in organizing a major protest against the KMT’s passage of the Economical Corporation Framework Agreement, ECFA in the Legislative Yuan and organized many protests against visits of Chinese Communist envoy in different cities.

Some other notable rallies/protests have included environmental protection rallies against the Kuo-Kuang Industrial Development Project in a Chunghwa County wetland and anti-nuclear plant rallies after Japan's recent 311 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Also, on the 3rd day of each month, we call on people to show up in front of the Tuchung detention center in a show of support for former President Chen Shui-bian and his judicial rights.

FL: What are some of the Alliance's accomplishments?

PT: I would have to admit that the accomplishments of ART are not yet very apparent. But I see that my fellow Taiwanese have become more confident in expressing their opinions publicly. I feel that support from the public has been strong enough for us to remain on the street for more than 900 days. We will continue focusing on educating people in Taiwan about nonviolent struggle through our actions and the use of technology.

FL: What is the sit-in meant to accomplish?

PT: I believe that when every Taiwanese person is able to enjoy the rights of a free citizen, then a real democratic system has been accomplished. The sit-in is to demonstrate our rights to freedom of expression in a nonviolent way on the street.

It serves as a base to distribute the information about nonviolent struggle and it is also a symbolic defiance against the oppressive ROC system. We call for reform of Referendum Act and the Electoral System of Legislative Yuan, and abolishment of the Parade and Assembly Act.

FL: Are there people stationed at the "base" in front of the Legislative Yuan every day?

PT: We have volunteers signed up for duties at the base on daily basis. We hand out booklets to promote democracy and civil rights and receive donations. We even served as collection center for donated goods after typhoon disasters. Volunteers are at the base every day, 24 hours around the clock.

UPDATE as of May 14: The "nonviolent struggle" facebook discussion group that Dr. Tsay mentioned in this interview can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/home.php?sk=group_165362803517243

For those interested in participating, the discussions have been conducted in Chinese.

NEXT: Part V The challenges of the ART’s limited resources