Walking in Taiwan
(<- Previous Report) March 6, 1998 (Next Report ->)Back to Start
A visit to a freedom fighter's memorial
This morning a visit was paid to the office of Legislator Chu-Lan Yeh. This office also serves as a memorial to her late husband, Nan-Joun Cheng, who died "a real hero," she said. "He gave the greatest sacrifice for his country. I accept this and have no regrets."
Cheng, a leader in the Taiwanese freedom movement, found himself on the verge of being arrested. With the police at his door he barricaded himself in his office and set the room on fire destroying himself and all the records of names that would implicate the other people involved in the struggle for democracy. On one wall of the office there's a glass window that allows us to see the charred wall behind what has since been rebuilt. Still visible, despite the charcoal, are Chinese characters declaring the struggle for freedom of expression and independence.
One whole room of the office has been set aside as a shrine to Cheng. Among the burned out walls still sit the remains of a freedom fighter's office: a desk, a typewriter‹even an exercise bike. And in the place where his body was found now stands a yellow wooden pillar elevating Cheng's ashes above the destruction.
In memory of her husband, Chu-Lan Yeh, is now a member of democratic process that her husband died for and matter-of-factly told Norbu, "Every speech I give is for independence, and I know that we share the same hope for our countries. I am glad to be the first speaker in the Legislator for Tibet's independence and support against the Tibetan and Mongolian Affairs Commission."
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