Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article: A1633-W1190

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1633-W1190

Release Date: January 27, 2024

发布日：2024年1月27日

Topic: Mainland China Will Not Have Shih Ming-Teh, Taiwan Will Not Have Wang Bingzhang -- RFA report

标题：大陆不会有施明德，台湾不会有王炳章 -- 自由亚洲电台报道

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

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Mainland China Will Not Have Shih Ming-Teh, Taiwan Will Not Have Wang Bingzhang

-- RFA report

2024.01.18 15:29 ET

Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential election last Saturday (on January 13) and was re-elected for a historic third time. Just two days later (on January 15), news broke that Shih Ming-Teh, one of the founders of the Democratic Progressive Party and former chairman of the DPP, had passed away. Shih Ming-Teh, who has been committed to promoting democracy since former Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Chiang Kai-shek was in power, was imprisoned for 25 years but his contribution to Taiwan's democratic progress is still widely recognized by the outside world. What inspiration does Shih Ming-Teh’s life of fighting for democracy have on the democratization process in mainland China?

The last and only time Chen Weijian met Shih Ming-Teh was in 2016.

"When I interviewed him, he was still in high spirits, whether talking, hairstyle, clothing, etc., although he had basically withdrawn from politics at that time," Chen Weijian said on the phone to the reporter of his views on Shih Ming-Teh, when he had just returned home to Auckland, New Zealand, from watching the election in Taiwan.

On the day of Shih Ming-Teh's death, Chen Weijian published an article reviewing his interview with Shih in 2016 on the website of the overseas political magazine "Beijing Spring" where he is the editor-in-chief, titled "The Prisoners of Beautiful Island Are Still Beautiful—A Visit with Shih Ming-Teh". There are several photos of Shih Ming-Teh at that time: shoulder-length hair, rosy complexion; wearing a shiny velvet suit on the upper body and black jeans on the lower body, standing straight and smiling with his hands in his trouser pockets, or talk while sitting, holding his left hand in the air. In one of the photos, Shih Ming-Teh is sitting in the center of the front row, with many democracy advocates from mainland China behind him, like stars holding the moon.

"Taiwan Mandela"

The Beautiful Island article Chen refers to is the "Formosa Magazine Incident" that occurred in Taiwan's political resistance movement in 1979. At that time, a group of Taiwanese non-KMT activists, with the "Beautiful Island -- Formosa" magazine as the core, of which Shih Ming-Teh was the general manager, organized public demonstrations and speeches in Taiwan to promote the end of the party ban and martial law. They were suppressed by the Kuomintang government headed by Chiang Ching-kuo. Several activists were arrested and sentenced. As the commander-in-chief of this movement, Shih Ming-Teh was first sentenced to death and then to life imprisonment under pressure from the international community. This movement was also the direct background for the founding of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan.

The Formosa Magazine was just one of the highlights of Shih Ming-Teh's political movement in his life. As early as 1962, when Shih Ming-Teh was only 22 years old and still serving as an artillery officer in Kinmen, he was involved in the movement to promote Taiwan's independence. As a result, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the first time. He was released after a reduced sentence having served 15 years in prison.

Because of his continuous activities promoting democracy in Taiwan for many years, Shih Ming-Teh was imprisoned for more than 25 years during the terms of four presidents: Chiang Kai-shek, Yen Chia-kan, Chiang Ching-kuo, and Lee Teng-hui. He was also known as the "Taiwan Mandela". It was not until Lee Teng-hui became president in 1990 and announced an amnesty for political prisoners in the Formosa Magazine that Shih Ming-Teh walked out of prison.

In the years that followed, Shih Ming-Teh served as chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party that he co-founded and was re-elected as a legislator of the Taiwan Legislative Yuan, and even ran for the legislative president. Chen Weijian said that Shih Ming-Teh was more proud of his leadership of the 2006 anti-Bian movement. "He became the commander-in-chief of the 'Red Shirt Army'. Although Chen Shui-bian was the president of the Democratic Progressive Party at the time, he (Shih Ming-Teh) was full of passion , believing that Chen Shui-bian’s corruption was unacceptable. Therefore he launched the Red Shirt Army.”

Chen Weijian thinks that Shih Ming-Teh was not "secular" and belongs to that generation of political statesmen with idealistic and romantic sentiments. "Shih's generation does not calculate. For their ideals, they move forward courageously and without any personal calculation of gain or loss, or partisan calculation; if there was a partisan calculation, he would not engage in a Red Shirts Army."

From Xidan Democracy Wall to Formosa Magazine

Shih Ming-Teh's death triggered condolences from all walks of life on the island of Taiwan. Kuomintang Chairman Eric Li-luan Chu issued a statement on the same day, thanking Shih Ming-Teh for his lifelong contribution to Taiwan's democracy and human rights. Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, who once broke with Shih, also published a public statement, calling him "a prophet of democracy and a hero of one generation."

Wei Jingsheng, the well-known Chinese democrat, published a commemorative article on the Radio Free Asia website, recalling his meeting with Shih Ming-Teh in 1999. At that time, Wei Jingsheng was invited by Kuomintang President Lee Teng-hui to visit Taiwan. People from the Democratic Progressive Party avoided meeting him, but Mr. Shih Ming-Teh took the initiative to meet with Wei Jingsheng and have in-depth discussions with him. (In 2001, Wei Jingsheng made a special trip to Taiwan and had even longer conversation with Shih,) the content of the conversation was published in a book in 2002, titled "The Eternal Theme: A Record of the Conversation between Shih Ming-Teh and Wei Jingsheng."

Wei Jingsheng is a benchmark figure in promoting the democratization process in contemporary China. In 1978, some people posted big-character posters on the "Democracy Wall" in Xidan, Beijing, calling for democratization. This action was called the "Democracy Wall Movement." In December of that year, Wei Jingsheng, an electrician at that time, posted “The Fifth Modernization: Democracy and Beyond,” as an important participant in this movement. Wei Jingsheng recalled that during a conversation in 2001, Shih Ming-Teh frankly admitted that the Formosa Magazine Movement was also inspired by the Xidan Democracy Wall.

Shih Ming-Teh has always advocated reconciliation, whether it is the relationship between parties on the island of Taiwan or the relationship between Taiwan and the mainland China. In 1995, Shih Ming-Teh even stated that "Taiwan is already a sovereign and independent country. When the Democratic Progressive Party gets power, there is no need and it will not declare Taiwan's independence." But Wei Jingsheng said that the reconciliation mentioned by Shih is conditional. "He has the same view as me. If the mainland is not democratic, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will not be a reliable opponent that can be dealt with. The Communist Party is not a trustworthy opponent. Under this circumstance, any promises made by the CCP are of little use.”

Similarly to Shih Ming-Teh, Wei Jingsheng has been suppressed by those in power for many years because of his calls for political reform and democratization. In 1979, Wei Jingsheng was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Chinese court for "counter-revolutionary crimes." From then until he was sent to exile in the United States in 1997, Wei Jingsheng spent a total of 18 years in prison in China as a political prisoner.

Although both Wei Jingsheng and Shih Ming-Teh were imprisoned as political prisoners, Wei Jingsheng told the reporter that Taiwan’s political system during Shih’s time in prison was still fundamentally different from today’s China. “Although Chiang Kai-shek was also quite authoritarian, at least his party (Kuomintang) had a constitution requiring democracy. They had been trying to establish a democratic politics, and Taiwan had real democratic elections at the grassroots level," Wei emphasized. Taiwan's struggle for democracy on this basis is essentially different from the mainland's struggle for democracy from a regime based entirely on violence.

Taiwan’s Freedom Fighters Finally Succeed

Chen Weijian went to Taiwan to watch the election this time and specifically visited the Green Island Prison where Shih Ming-Teh was imprisoned in the 1970s. He said that it can be seen that the single cells where political prisoners lived in prison are obviously better than those in mainland China. “The windows are larger, there is a flush toilet, a bath, and a small table. The single cell is slightly smaller, but with the floor of wooden boards, not just concrete.”

Hu Ping, honorary editor of "Beijing Spring", pointed out that the experience of Taiwanese democratic dissidents of Shih's generation was very different from that of today's Chinese dissidents. "Under different authoritarian tyranny, the degree of tyranny and the severity of their tyranny are different. That means, under different autocratic tyranny, the space for civil resistance is still different."

Taking the Mao Zedong era as an example, he pointed out that "In the Mao era, it was impossible to be Liu Xiaobo or Wang Bingzhang. During that era, there was no room to show your color, including your heroism; even in the court there was no chance to state your political views."

Hu Ping emphasized that the reason why Taiwan has Shih Ming-Teh is because Taiwan’s autocratic system at that time had not gone to extremes. “The freedom fighters who are particularly famous are precisely so because the autocratic tyranny they opposed is not yet too authoritarian or tyrannical.”

Wang Bingzhang, whom Hu Ping mentioned, is the first overseas medical doctorate student after the reform and opening up in mainland China. He has helped promote the progress of China's democracy all year round. He participated in the founding of many democratic parties such as the China Democratic Solidarity Alliance. He is considered by the outside world to be the representative democracy advocate of contemporary China. In 2002, Chinese police arrested Wang Bingzhang across the border in Vietnam and later sentenced him to life imprisonment for espionage and leading a terrorist organization. He is still in prison.

Chen Weijian is familiar with Wang Bingzhang. He told the reporter that as a pioneer of democracy, Wang Bingzhang can be compared with Shih, but the hardship Wang Bingzhang endured in prison is completely incomparable to Shih. “He is now sentenced to life imprisonment, there is absolutely no hope of seeing China's democratization before the end of his life, and it is impossible for him to achieve the same success as Shih as a democracy fighter after he was released from prison."

Wang Bingzhang's daughter Wang Qingyan, who lives in the United States, visited Shaoguan Prison in Guangdong in September last year. The recent situation of her father was worrying. Our station reported at the time that 75-year-old Wang Bingzhang had suffered multiple strokes after being imprisoned and currently suffered from severe high blood pressure. When he met his daughter, he walked out with help and he was very thin.

Reporter: Wang Yun; Editor: Qi Qing; Online Editor: Hong Wei

（A couple of clarifications are included in this English version.）

Original link to this report:

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/wy-01162024112353.html

Related photos:

Shih Ming-Teh, a pioneer in promoting Taiwan's democratic movement and former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, died of illness in the early morning of the 15th at the age of 83:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2024/newsletters2024-1/ShihMT.jpg

Former Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Shih Ming-Teh (center) was charged with rebellion during the martial law trial on Formosa Magazine (picture taken from Formosa Foundation)

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2024/newsletters2024-1/ShihMTontrial.jpg

Wei Jingsheng (right), a well-known Chinese democrat, meets with Shih Ming-Teh, former chairman of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (provided by Wei Jingsheng):

http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2024/newsletters2024-1/ShihMT&WeiJS2001.jpg

Related Link:

Radio Free Asia Commentary by Wei Jingsheng: Reminiscing about Mr. Shih Ming-Teh, the Pioneer of Democracy in Taiwan:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2024/report2024-1/WeiJS240115onShihMTlifeA1631-W1189.htm

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article: A1633-W1190

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1633-W1190

Release Date: January 27, 2024

发布日：2024年1月27日

Topic: Mainland China Will Not Have Shih Ming-Teh, Taiwan Will Not Have Wang Bingzhang -- RFA report

标题：大陆不会有施明德，台湾不会有王炳章 -- 自由亚洲电台报道

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问：

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2024/report2024-1/ShihMTremembered240127RFAreportA1633-W1190.htm

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大陆不会有施明德，台湾不会有王炳章

-- 自由亚洲电台报道

2024.01.18 15:29 ET

台湾民进党上周六（1月13日）取得总统大选胜利，历史性第三次连任。仅相隔两天（1月15日），就传出民进党创党元老之一、前民主进步党主席施明德去世的消息。自前国民党主席蒋介石执政时期就一直致力于推动民主的施明德，曾坐牢二十五年，但他对台湾民主进步作出的贡献依然获得了外界广泛的认可。施明德争取民主的一生，对中国大陆民主化进程有何启发？

陈维健最后一次、也是唯一一次与施明德见面是在2016年。

“我采访他的时候，他依然是神采飞扬的样子，不管是说话也好，还有发型、穿着等等，都是神采飞扬，虽然那个时候他已经基本上退出了政治，”陈维健在电话里跟记者讲起他对施明德的看法时，刚刚从台湾观选回到新西兰奥克兰的家。

就在施明德去世当天，陈维健在其担任主编的海外政论杂志《北京之春》网站上刊发一篇回顾他2016年采访施明德经历的文章，题为《美丽岛囚徒依然美丽——拜访施明德》。网页上有几张施明德当时的照片：齐肩的长发，红润的脸色；上身着亮闪闪的绒料西装，下身是黑色牛仔，或挺拔地站立，微笑着将两手插在裤兜里，或坐立着倾谈，左手托向空中。其中有张照片，施明德坐在前排中央，身旁身后是多位大陆背景的民主人士，如众星捧月。

“台湾曼德拉”

文章所指的美丽岛是发生在1979年的台湾政治抵抗运动“美丽岛事件”。当时一批台湾党外运动人士以施明德担任总经理的《美丽岛》杂志为核心，在台湾组织民众展开游行和演讲，推动结束党禁和戒严令，遭到以蒋经国为首的国民党政府的镇压，多名活动人士被捕，并被判刑。作为这场运动总指挥的施明德先被判死刑，后在国际社会的压力下被判无期徒刑。这场运动也是台湾民进党创党的直接背景。

美丽岛事件只是施明德一生政治运动的高光时刻之一。早在1962年，年仅22岁的施明德还在小金门担任炮兵军官时就卷入了推动台湾独立的运动，并因此第一次被判无期徒刑，坐牢15年后才被减刑释放。

因为多年持续推动台湾民主的活动，施明德先后在蒋中正、严家淦、蒋经国和李登辉四位总统任内总共坐牢超过二十五年，他也因此被称为“台湾曼德拉”。直到1990年李登辉担任总统，宣布特赦美丽岛事件政治犯，施明德才走出监狱。

此后多年，施明德曾担任自己参与创立的民进党主席，也曾连任台湾立法院立法委员，还曾竞选过立法院长。陈维健介绍说，施明德比较自豪的是他领导了2006年‘倒扁运动’，“他成为‘红衫军’的总指挥。当时虽然陈水扁是民进党的总统，但他（施明德）怀抱着激情，认为陈水扁的贪污是不可接受的，所以发动了红衫军。”

陈维健认为，施明德不“世俗”，属于那一代具有理想主义、浪漫主义情怀的政治家，“施明德这一代人是不计算的，为了我的理想，我是勇往无前，往前冲的，没有个人的计算，没有利益得失、党派的计算；如果是有党派的计算，他就不会搞红衫军了。”

从西单民主墙到美丽岛

施明德去世在台湾岛内引发各界悼念。国民党主席朱立伦当天就发表声明，感谢施明德一生对台湾民主及人权的贡献。曾与施明德决裂的台湾前总统陈水扁也公开发文，称其为“民主先知，一代枭雄。”

中国著名民主人士魏京生在自由亚洲电台网站上发表纪念文章，回忆了他1999年与施明德的会面。当时魏京生受国民党总统李登辉的邀请去台湾访问，民进党人士都躲着不和他见面，施明德先生则是主动和魏京生见面并且与之深谈。二人2001年对谈的内容在2002年成书，题为《永远的主题：施明德与魏京生对谈录》。

魏京生是中国当代推动民主化进程的标杆性人物。1978年，一些民众在北京西单贴出大字报，呼吁推动中国民主化，被称为“民主墙运动”；时为电工的魏京生当年12月在“民主墙”贴出大字报《第五个现代化：民主及其他》，是这场运动的重要参与者。魏京生回忆说，在2001年的那次交谈中，施明德坦承，美丽岛运动也是受到了西单民主墙的启发。

施明德一直主张和解，无论是台湾岛内党派之间的关系，还是台湾与大陆的关系。1995年，施明德还提出，“台湾已经是一个主权独立的国家，民进党执政，不必也不会宣布台湾独立”。但魏京生说，施明德所说的和解是有条件的，“他跟我的观点一样，如果大陆不民主，中国共产党不是一个可靠的、可以打交道的对手，共产党不是一个讲信用的对手。在这种情况下，共产党作出任何承诺都没什么用。”

与施明德相似，魏京生也因为呼吁政治改革、实行民主化而常年受到当政者的打压。1979年，魏京生以“反革命罪”被中国法院判刑15年，此后直到1997年流亡美国，魏京生作为政治犯总共在中国坐牢十八年。

虽然魏京生和施明德都曾作为政治犯坐牢，魏京生对记者说，施明德坐牢时期的台湾政治体制和当今中国还是有本质区别，“虽然蒋介石也相当独裁，但至少他（国民党）党章是要求民主的，而且他们一直在尝试建立一个民主政治；而且台湾在基层有真正的民主选举，”他强调，台湾在这个基础上争取民主，和大陆这种完全在依靠暴力统治的基础上争取民主，有本质上的不同。

台湾自由斗士终有出头之日

陈维健此次到台湾观选，特意去参观了施明德1970年代曾被关押的绿岛监狱。他说，可以看到政治犯在狱中所住的单间明显好于大陆，“窗户也比较大，有抽水马桶，有洗澡的，还有一张小桌子，是单人牢房，只是稍微小一点，而且还有地板，不是直接水泥地，是木板。”

《北京之春》荣誉主编胡平则指出，施明德这一代台湾民主异议人士的遭遇与当今中国异议人士的遭遇有很大的区别，“不同的专制暴政下，它们专制的程度，恶劣的程度是不一样的；也就是在不同专制暴政下，民间反抗的空间大小还是有区别的。”

他指出，就以毛泽东时代为例，“在毛时代要成为刘晓波、王炳章都不可能，在那个时代，没有一点空间去展现你的色彩，包括你的英雄气概都无从展示；就是在法庭上也根本没有机会陈述你的政见。”

胡平强调，台湾之所以有施明德，就是因为台湾当时的专制体制还没有走向极端，“名气特别大的自由斗士，恰恰是因为他们反对的专制暴政还不太专制，还不太暴政。”

胡平提到的王炳章是中国大陆改革开放后首位医学博士留学生，常年帮助推动中国民主进步，曾参与创建中国民主团结联盟和中国民主党等多个民主党派，被外界认为是中国当代具有代表性的民主人士。2002年，中国警方在越南跨境抓捕王炳章，随后以间谍罪及领导恐怖组织罪判处其无期徒刑，至今关押狱中。

陈维健与王炳章相熟，他对记者说，作为民主的先驱，王炳章完全可以和施明德相比，但王炳章在监狱中吃的苦是施明德完全无法相比的，“他现在是判无期徒刑，而且他完全没有希望在生命将尽之前看到中国的民主化，他也不可能有像施明德出狱以后作为一个民主斗士的风光。”

王炳章住在美国的女儿王青燕去年9月到广东韶关监狱探监，看到其父亲的近况让人担忧。本台当时曾报道，现年75岁的王炳章入狱后曾多次中风，目前有严重的高血压，他在会见女儿时是被搀扶着出来的，身体非常消瘦。

记者：王允责编：梒青网编：洪伟

（在原文的基础上，有极个别的更正澄清。）

本报道的原始链接：

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/wy-01162024112353.html