Ep 305 | Sherry Chou Remembers Dr. Chen Wen-chen and Circumstances Surrounding his Mysterious Death

Feb 24, 2025

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In July of 2024, we brought Talking Taiwan to the Taiwanese American Conference at West Chester University and I sat down to interview Sherry Chou, the Director of Dr. Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation.

Dr. Chen Wen-chen was an assistant professor of statistics at Carnegie Mellon University when he and his family returned to his native Taiwan for a vacation in the summer of 1981. Dr. Chen's permit to leave the country to return to the U.S. was rejected and so the Taiwan Garrison Command called in Dr. Chen for questioning regarding his political beliefs and activities in the United States. They questioned him on June 30th and July 2nd, but then on July 3, 1981, Chen's body was found on the campus of National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taipei. At the time the autopsy reported that his death was due to a fall. Chen's mysterious death shed light on how the work of Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang spies on U.S. campuses led to Chen's interrogation by the Garrison Command.

Sherry and I talked about how and why it took 10 years to establish the Dr. Chen Wen-chen Incident Memorial Square at National Taiwan University (NTU), and the Rainbow Taiwan Independence Flag. Sherry also shared some memories of the Sunflower Movement, which you'll hear Sherry refer to as sān yī ba, which is three one eight in mandarin Chinese, and a reference to March 18, 2014, the date that activists and students occupied Taiwan's legislative yuan which became known as the Sunflower Movement.

Dr. Chen Wen-chen's memory was honored at Taiwanese American Conference's 2024 memorial concert.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York.

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

Who Dr. Chen Wen-chen was
The events leading up to the mysterious death of Dr. Chen
Dr. Chen's body was found on July 3, 1981, on the ground at National Taiwan University
Initial autopsy reported his death as a fall, but circumstances were suspicious
His death shed light on the activities of Kuomintang (KMT) spies on U.S. campuses
Why it took 10 years to establish the Dr. Chen Wen-chen Incident Memorial Square at National Taiwan University
Sherry also talked about the Rainbow Taiwan independence flag project
Sherry discussed her memories of the Sunflower Movement
Dr. Chen Wen-chen was honored at the Taiwanese American Conference's 2024 Memorial Concert
Dr. Chen fundraised for Formosa Magazine, which drew the attention of KMT agents
Formosa Magazine is linked to the Formosa Incident, also known as the Kaohsiung Incident
Recent findings by the Transitional Justice Commission revealed that Dr. Chen had been under surveillance since 1979
Forensic evidence confirmed that Dr. Chen died before falling from a building
The Lin family murders occurred on February 28, 1980; Lin Yi-hsiung's mother and his twin daughters were stabbed and killed and his oldest daughter survived
The death of Chen Wen-chen angered both local and overseas Taiwanese people
Sherry talked about a photo of protestors in the 1980s wearing paper bags over their heads to disguise their identities
The idea for the memorial started in 2011 with professors and students co-signing a petition
The initial proposal was just to place a sign on campus, not a square, but the university didn't want even a sign
The social atmosphere in 2011 was different, with Taiwan moving closer to China under President Ma Ying-jeou
There were many ridiculous objections to the sign
The turning point came in 2014 when Dr. Yang Pan-chyr, a more progressive president, agreed to set up the memorial square
There was uncertainty about whether the university would change its stance after Dr. Yang left and Kuan Chung-ming became president
Kuan Chung-ming was unpopular, especially among the DPP and progressive community, due to his conservative views and ties to China
Dr. Yang tried to push for the sign before he left
After Kuan Chung-ming became president, he withdrew support for funding, and the Dr. Chen Wen-chen Foundation covered the costs
The public contributed to fundraising efforts through social media
Around 2016, there was a surge in advocacy for gender equality in Taiwan and its connection to Taiwanese sovereignty and identity
In 2016, Taiwan's marriage equality movement gained attention with people protesting on the streets
On May 24, 2017, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to marry
Someone used photoshop to combine the rainbow flag and Taiwanese independence flags
Funds were raised through social media and distributed 1300 flags at events
The flags allowed people to express support for both marriage equality and national issues
2016 marked the beginning of more people expressing concern for both gender equality and national issues
LGBTQ individuals were more actively engaged in the Bluebird Movement, possibly due to increased mobilization since 2016
Sherry was previously the marketing director for Watchout, a media company
Watchout started at the end of 2013, around the time of the Sunflower Movement, capturing many photos from then
The company shifted focus to issues related to Taiwan's independence and civil defense
Watchout published two books: Civil Defense Guide (covering disasters and war) and Active Civil Defense Guide (focused on war)
How Sherry got interest in feminism
She admires figures like Professor Fan Yun and Liu Wen for their feminist contributions
Sherry emphasized the importance of efforts from both Taiwanese communities in Taiwan and those outside of Taiwan in order to make significant change happen