🎙 TALKING TAIWAN 305 Sherry Chou recalls Dr Chen Wen-chen & his mysterious demise

GooseEgg · March 9, 2025, 7:10am

Here’s a concise summary of the interview with Sherry Chou, Director of the Dr. Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation:

In July 2024, an interview with Sherry Chou at the Taiwanese American Conference at West Chester University highlighted Dr. Chen Wen-chen’s story. Dr. Chen, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, died under mysterious circumstances in Taiwan in 1981 after being questioned by the Taiwan Garrison Command about his political activities. The interview discussed the decade-long effort to establish a memorial at National Taiwan University and the significance of the Rainbow Taiwan Independence Flag. Sherry also shared memories of the Sunflower Movement, which began on March 18, 2014, when students occupied Taiwan’s legislative building. Dr. Chen’s legacy was honored at a memorial concert during the conference.

[!success] Topics dicussed in the 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

🎙 TALKING TAIWAN 305 Sherry Chou recalls Dr Chen Wen-chen & his mysterious demise

Here’s a concise summary of the interview with Sherry Chou, Director of the Dr. Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation:

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