Taiwan Church News
3191 Edition
April 22-28, 2013
Headline News

Reported by Lin Yi-ying

Written by Lydia Ma

The reason why a lot of people consider Yilan as the “holy land” of Taiwanese democracy is because that’s the place Kuo Yu-Hsin (1908-1985) began a democratic movement in the 1960s-1970s even as efforts to democratize Taiwan had stalled. His work provided a solid foundation for pro-democracy groups to launch their initiatives in the 1970s. To remember this hero, many pro-democracy organizations, including Taiwan Justice Action Church, Tainan Theological College and Seminary, Taiwan United Nations Alliance, cosponsored a nation-wide book launch tour from April 20-28. The tour will make stops in Taipei, Yilan, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Taichung.

Kuo was born in Yilan in 1908 to Christian parents. He attended Chungshan Presbyterian Church in Taipei with his mother. He was a legislator in the now defunct provincial legislature for 23 years. He was known for being a bold speaker and he was also considered as one of the “Five Tiger Generals” in the provincial legislature. He ran for a seat in the Control Yuan in 1973 and the Legislative Yuan in 1975 but was suppressed by the KMT, thus losing by a slim margin. In 1977, Kuo fled to the US and then competed against Chiang Ching-kuo in the 1978 presidential elections. He died of illness in Washington, D.C. in 1985 at the age of 77.

Kuo was a close friend of Wang Neng-hsiang and they created the Overseas Taiwanese Democracy Movement Alliance together. Kuo was the chairman of the alliance, Shoki Coe was the vice-chairman, and Wang was the secretary-general. The three of them were very active in citizen diplomacy in the US on behalf of Taiwan and gave a voice and a face to Taiwanese people’s longings in Washington.

During the book launching conference in Taipei held on April 20, notable people in attendance included former premiers Chang Chun-hsiung and Yu Shyi-kun among others. Chang Chun-hsiung said that half of the 8 prominent people arrested during the Kaohsiung incident, including Chen Chu, Chang Chun-hong, Yao Chia-wen, and Lin Yi-hsiung were mentored by Kuo. He added that, when former PCT General Secretary C.M. Kao was imprisoned by the KMT, Kuo’s lobbying efforts in the US were instrumental in pressuring Chiang Ching-kuo to lift martial law in Taiwan, cementing Kuo’s legacy in securing Taiwanese democracy.

When Wang Neng-hsiang spoke on realizing the vision set out by Kuo at this conference, he particularly went over Kuo’s efforts in securing human dignity for Taiwanese, and national security and rule of law for Taiwan. He said that Kuo was also very supportive of Taiwanese self-determination movements and the direct election of legislators and presidents in Taiwan and these things were among his list of priorities to see fulfilled in Taiwan during his lifetime.