After the passing of Taiwanese democracy pioneer Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) on Friday last week, tributes have poured in, memorializing Peng’s enormous contributions and lifelong dedication to Taiwan.
Perhaps the greatest influence Peng had on Taiwan was his 1964 manifesto A Declaration of Formosan Self-salvation (台灣人民自救宣言), in which he proposed the concept of a Taiwanese nationhood.
Peng’s second-greatest contribution to Taiwan came six years later in 1970. Although by then Peng had been placed under strict surveillance, he fled Taiwan right under the noses of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) state security apparatus. Peng’s daring escape caught the attention of the international community
A dedicated legal system and enhanced training for judges are needed to deal with Chinese espionage and other cases that threaten to subvert Taiwan’s national security, World United Formosans for Independence chairman Chen Nan-tien (陳南天) said in a news briefing yesterday.
“The main threat to Taiwan’s survival as a country is China and its People’s Liberation Army,” Chen said. “Chinese leaders have vowed to annex Taiwan and they threaten total destruction.”
“Right now, the big problem is that some sectors of society embrace China as a friend rather than seeing it as the enemy,” he said. “Many people are not aware that