Ep 212 | Dr. Mark Chen: Advocate for Taiwan in Both the U.S. and Taiwan Part 1

Nov 13, 2022

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A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

1979 was a crucial year for Taiwan. In January of that year the United States changed its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing and in December of that same year the Kaohsiung Incident happened. Speaking with my guest, Dr. Mark Chen, for this episode made me realize that there are many people to thank for the important work that they did back then to safeguard Taiwan and the people of Taiwan.

Dr. Mark Chen (陳唐山 ) has spent much of his life dedicated to doing advocacy work for Taiwan both in the U.S. and in Taiwan. Listeners of this podcast may recall his name being mentioned in episode 199 when I spoke with Gerrit van der Wees about the Taiwan Relations Act.

When the United States formally recognized the communist People’s Republic of China and severed its diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, Mark Chen and others reached out to U.S. congressmen and senators to express the concerns of the people of Taiwan. As a result, he and several others were invited to testify in front of the U.S Congress as the Taiwan Relations Act was being drafted. The act passed in April of 1979. Later that same year when the Kaohsiung Incident happened on December 10th Dr. Chen and overseas Taiwanese were galvanized to call for further investigation into the matter and to put international pressure on the Kuomintang government to release those charged and arrested in connection with the Kaohsiung Incident.

Dr. Chen also shared how the advocacy work being done for Taiwan at the time led to the formation of FAPA (the Formosan Association for Public Affairs) in 1982. This year marks the 40th anniversary of FAPA.

In part one of my interview with him we focus on the work he’s done for Taiwan in the U.S.- which started when he was a student at the University of Oklahoma.

Dr. Chen has been the president of the Taiwanese Association of America, World Federation of Taiwanese Associations, and the Formosan Association of Public Affairs.

In part two of my interview with Mark Chen, we’ll talk about his work in Taiwan as an elected official and public servant, and his current work as the chairman of the Prospect Foundation.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

How the education Dr. Chen received when Taiwan was ruled by the Japanese influenced him
How the arrival of the Kuomintang in Taiwan in 1945 at the end of World War II was without the consent of the Taiwanese people and changed things overnight for the people of Taiwan
How the Chiang Kai-shek Kuomintang government was focused on retaking China at the time and a lot of this rhetoric ended up being taught in schools
The impact of the 228 massacre on the people of Taiwan
How subject matter taught in schools changed under the Kuomintang
How Mark and many of his peers were able to study in the U.S. with the financial assistance of scholarships
How an exit visa was needed to be able to leave Taiwan which was still under martial law at the time
His involvement with Taiwanese student groups as a university student was forbidden by the Kuomintang government in Taiwan at the time
Why his Taiwan passport was confiscated after sending it to the Taiwan embassy in Houston to be renewed; making him stateless
When an ad about the 228 massacre that was to run to the University Oklahoma newspaper was denied publication, Dr. Chen who was a young student at the university, appealed directly to the university’s president who agreed to publish the ad
When the U.S. cut its official relationship with Taiwan in 1979, Taiwan was known as “Free China” under the rule of the Chiang Kai-shek government, as opposed to “Red China” which refers to the People’s Republic of China
How Dr. Chen and others in the Taiwanese American community worked to inform members of the U.S. Congress about the importance of the U.S. maintaining a relationship with Taiwan, and understanding the perspectives of the Taiwanese people
How Dr. Chen was blacklisted for being involved with organizing Taiwanese student organizations not allowed to return to Taiwan for father’s funeral
How Dr. Chen, Peng Ming-min and others were invited to testify to the U.S. Congress about on behalf of the people of Taiwan that there should be freedom and democracy in Taiwan, this formed the basis for the Taiwan Relations Act
On January 1, 1979 U.S. President Jimmy Carter switched the U.S.’s diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China
How Dr. Chen asked the American Institute in Taiwan office in Washington D.C. to investigate the Kaohsiung Incident which happened on December 10, 1979
Dr. Chen was the chairperson of the World Federation of Taiwanese Associations when he personally went to visit the chairman of Amnesty International in London to appeal of their help in calling for the release of those arrested due to the Kaohsiung Incident
How Dr. Chen and others informed U.S. Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy about the Kaohsiung Incident and what was happening in Taiwan at the time
What led to FAPA (Formosan Association for Public Affairs) being established in 1982
When U.S. President Jimmy Carter officially recognized the People’s Republic of China, the annual 20,000 immigration quota that the U.S. had allotted for Taiwan would switch over to China, Dr. Chen, Chai Trong-rong and others started lobbying for the immigration quota
They reached out to Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Claiborne Pell, Congressman Jim Leach and Congressman Stephen Solarz, about the immigration quota and a bill was passed that allowed the U.S. to allot Taiwan an annual immigration quota of 20,000
The success of recovering the U.S. immigration quota for Taiwan led to the idea to form FAPA (Formosan Association for Public Affairs)
FAPA was modeled after AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee)
The first president of FAPA was Chai Trong-rong and Dr. Mark Chen was the second