Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Ninety-something Su Beng is the Grandfather of the Taiwan independence movement. In the 1950’s, Su Beng led a group called the Taiwan Revolutionary Army and plotted the overthrow of Chiang Kai-shek’s dictatorial regime. A forced exile to Japan during the many years of the martial law period led to Su Beng’s writing of a history book, Taiwan’s 400 Year History.

Su Beng granted a face-to-face interview to discuss Chen Shui-bian’s trial and its place in contemporary history. Like any good historian, he began the story with a contextual background.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) often touts democracy as the nation’s greatest achievement and has been known to trumpet how he has helped to advance the nation’s democratic values and the protection of human rights by having ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2009 during his first term as president. However, actions speak louder than words.

Ma’s lack of humanity and respect for his predecessor has led some to wonder whether he truly keeps the meaning of “human rights” close to his heart and grasps the meaning embodied in the contents of the two international human rights covenants he has signed.