Taiwanese American Federation of Northern California – A Review of the Past Thirty Years

Author: Ching C. Shir

 

United in Heart and Mind for Thirty Years

 

For the last thirty years, the Taiwanese American Federation of Northern California (TAFNC) has acted like a giant family to the Taiwanese community in Northern California. TAFNC’s function is to coordinate between its various member associations, to lead large-scale activities in the Bay Area, and to represent Northern California’s Taiwanese associations. Though it has encountered numerous hardships, thanks to its efforts over the past 30 years, the Federation has steadily grown alongside the development of local Taiwanese associations, and continues to grow stronger with the support of its five member associations (East Bay, Southeast Bay, South Bay, and San Francisco Taiwanese Associations, and the Northern California Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture). Over the last thirty years, these five associations have united together to weather numerous storms. In recent years, the Mid-Peninsula Taiwanese Association (split off from the San Francisco Taiwanese Association), the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association, and the Senior Taiwanese Association of Northern California have joined the Federation, strengthening the Federation’s Board of Directors. These eight associations have worked hard to adhere to the Federation’s founding mission: to serve the Taiwanese community, to integrate into mainstream American society, and to strive for freedom, democracy, security, and happiness for Taiwan. This unique and comprehensive organization has been able to unite the entire Taiwanese community in Northern California for the past thirty years, which is truly a rare occurrence.

In the thirty long years that have passed since the Federation’s founding, nearly one thousand unnamed volunteers have dedicated their precious time to this cause. Additionally, there were also thirty Presidents who took on the heaviest burden, thirty Vice-presidents, more than one hundred officers, two hundred directors, and hundreds of officers from the various member associations who all worked together to fight for the day that the Taiwanese people could hold their heads up proudly. Despite being pressured by underground gangsters and blacklisting threats under the “Black Terror,” these individuals remained steadfast, cooperating with one another seamlessly for no salary or credit for thirty years. This is a piece of history worth recording and passing onto future generations.

 

■ The Federation Learns Together – The 1970s

 

Since the San Francisco Bay Area is blessed with a mild climate and diverse collection of talents, it is a place that attracts a good number of international students and immigrants. Around the 1960s, Taiwanese students began coming to famous universities in the area, and so a number of informal Taiwanese associations began appearing one after another. In the early 1970s, official Taiwanese associations were gradually established. At first, there was only the South Bay Taiwanese Association, but following that, the East Bay, Southeast Bay, and San Francisco Taiwanese Associations were also established. After a year as a book club, the Northern California Alliance for Interculture was also formally established in May 1973. These organizations all had their own policies and their activities often conflicted with each other. Thus, a few insightful people proposed that they establish a federation that could coordinate these various Taiwanese associations.

At a picnic hosted by the South Bay Taiwanese Association in 1973, I discussed with Chun-hsiung Su, Tsun-liang Chang, Chieh-shan Huang, and a few others about organizing a Federation. On August 17^th, 1973, a preparatory meeting was called at Chieh-shan Huang’s home, with the goal of deciding a name and purpose for the new organization. Chun-hsiung Su and Ching C. Shir drafted the organizational charter.

 

• 1973 – The Federation is established

 

On September 22^nd, 1973, TAFNC was officially established at Chun-hsiung Su’s home, with seven associations in attendance, including four Taiwanese associations, two churches, and the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture. Thus, this very unique organization was established, the very first of its kind in the Taiwanese American community. After the establishment of TAFNC, President Chun-hsiung Su, Vice-presidents Tsun-liang Chang and Ching C. Shir, and Secretary-general Chien-cheng Su divided up their work and began cooperating. They began by establishing a Board of Directors, drafting the Chinese and English versions of the charter, registering with the state government, applying for subsidization, issuing collective newsletters, and reporting on the activities of the various member associations. In 1974, TAFNC held the first Bay Area softball tournament (with four participating associations) and the first Bay Area conference (with lecturers like Ning-hsiang Kang, Hsiu-lien Lu, Wudong Huang, Birei Kin, and Ming-min Peng). In 1975, the Second President of the Federation, Liang Chuan Peng, began holding the Taiwanese American Conference – West Coast (TACWC) so that attendees from the Taiwanese community could spend time together and learn from one another. In 1975, I compiled and printed a register of all the members of the Bay Area Taiwanese community. At that time, when you needed as punch card to use a computer, which was really complicated. But, thanks to Yong-hsuan Hsieh’s help, the project was able to be completed successfully.

 

 

• 1976 – The Mid-Autumn Festival Garden Party, Predecessor to the Taiwanese American Cultural Festival

 

On September 4^th, 1976, the Northern California Baseball Championship Quarterfinals were held in Sunnyvale. On the same day, the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture held a Garden Party, which featured traditional Taiwanese snacks and a speech by Huang Chun-ming. Hundreds of Taiwanese community members attended the event, standing in long lines to eat Taiwanese meatballs, glutinous rice dumplings, and stew. Later on, this event was hosted by the Formosan Association for Human Rights for nearly 10 years, before it was handed back to TAFNC. By 1993, the Taiwan Culture Committee had added Taiwanese cultural programs and exhibitions and turned the event into the Taiwanese American Cultural Festival, which aimed to promote Taiwanese culture in the United States. In 2000, the event was transferred back to TAFNC, and hosting the Taiwanese American Cultural Festival officially became one of TAFNC’s most important events.

 

• 1977 – The First Lunar New Year’s Banquet

 

On February 19^th, 1977, the Fourth President, Tu Chen, held the first Lunar New Year’s Banquet at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. There were over three hundred attendees, and the success of this banquet increased the confidence of the Federation’s seven member associations. Since the banquet has been held annually, it has been held a total of 27 times as of this year. The Lunar New Year’s Banquet has become one of TAFNC’s most important events, as well as a symbol of the unity and cooperation amongst Northern California’s Taiwanese associations. In late 1978, the banquet was nearly ruined. Right when I had just taken over as president and the banquet invitations had already been sent out, the venue suddenly cancelled our reservation. After many weeks of hard work, I discovered a new location, Centennial Hall in Hayward, which is still used to this day. Thanks to information from former President of the Taiwanese American Chamber of Commerce, Kuang-che Chen, I found out that someone had just decided to cancel their reservation there, and we were able to rent out the location. Since then, the Lunar New Year’s Banquet has been held at Centennial Hall every year. And, since the Hayward city government has been very welcoming to TAFNC, the annual banquet has gone smoothly every year. The programming for the banquet is provided by the various associations, and the banquet has improved and gained more participants each year. Currently, there are over 1,400 attendees, which is nearly hitting full capacity.

 

• Penglai Island Opera Troupe

 

The finale of the Lunar New Year’s Banquet is performed by the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture’s Penglai Island Opera Troupe. The performance mostly focused on satirizing the social and political phenomena in Taiwan in those times, and it was quite popular. The Penglai Island Opera Troupe was founded by Winston H. Chen and Chieh-shan Huang, two genius actors, in 1975. On February 14^th, 1796, the troupe gave its first performance at the South Bay Taiwanese Association’s annual conference. They performed “Story of an Arranged Marriage,” where a man dresses in woman’s attire, and it was a sensational hit. In 1977, the Penglai Island Opera Troupe performed “Story of a Fortuneteller” at the first Lunar New Year’s Banquet, and it was quite popular. Since then, the Penglai Island Opera Troupe has performed at the Lunar New Year’s Banquet more than 20 times, and their performance has become the traditional finale for the banquet. In the last ten years, Ching-sheng Huang has been leading the Penglai Island Opera Troupe, while Rui-hui Lin has written their scripts.

 

• 1977 – Changes in the Organization of the Federation

 

When TAFNC was founded, there were two member churches. By 1977, the Taiwanese people’s calls for human rights, freedom, and democracy had increased, and the number of Taiwanese associations in the United States that were dedicating themselves to confronting authoritarian regimes has also sharply increased. Thus, the churches decided to withdraw from the federation for the purposes of having a “separation of church and state,” and since then, no religious associations have served on TAFNC’s Board of Directors.

 

• 1978 – An Important Milestone: Writing in “Taiwanese” on the U.S. Census

 

In early 1978, TAFNC realized that Taiwanese people were not counted on the 1980 census. Since the U.S. government had never counted the number of Taiwanese in the States before, TAFNC established the “Joint Committee of Taiwanese American for 1980 U.S. Census.” Through collaborative efforts with other Taiwanese associations from around the country, the committee aimed to convince the U.S. government to include “Taiwanese” as an option on the census. After the U.S. Census Bureau sent a commissioner to investigate the request and listen to our opinions, they decided to allow Taiwanese to write in “Taiwanese” on the census. Thus, the fact that the U.S. government now accepts “Taiwanese” as category is thanks to the Taiwanese community members in Northern California who initiated this campaign in 1978.

 

• 1979 – The First Bay Area Tennis Tournament

On September 29^th, 1979, the first Bay Area Tennis Tournament, Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture vs. East Bay Taiwanese Association, was held in Fremont. Since then, softball and tennis tournaments have become an important summer event for the Bay Area’s Taiwanese community.

 

■ An Important Starting Point in the 70s – The Beginning of the Taiwan Democracy Movement

 

As a result of the 228 Incident and the White Terror of the 1950s, which had seen tens of thousands of people be implicated, the older generation in Taiwan still had lingering fears even in the 70s, and they didn’t dare question the island’s politics. The younger generation had not experienced these things, however, and were thus eager for political reform. At that time, there was an unnamed group of young people, in their late 20s and early 30s, who were enthusiastic about policy reform. Under a recommendation from the U.S. State Department, these young people were funded by the Asia Foundation to come study in the Bay Area for six months. Among these individuals were Lin Yi-hsiung, Yao Chia-wen, Chou Ching-yu, Chang Teh-ming, and Huang Chun-ming. When they arrived in the United States, a free country, they naturally hoped that they would get access to banned books and articles that were not available in Taiwan. They also frequently discussed Taiwan’s future with members of the Taiwanese American community. Yao Chia-wen, Chou Ching-yu, and Huang Chun-ming all gave speeches and attended symposiums hosted by the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture, Chou Ching-yu attended the Taiwanese American Conference – West Coast, and Yao Chia-wen even helped me draft the charter for the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture. After they returned to Taiwan, these individuals began to use the legal and social service skills that they’d learned in the United States to serve the Taiwanese public, and the Taiwanese community here continued to support and fund the Taiwan Democracy Movement as it developed in Taiwan. Even after the Formosa Incident occurred, they were still committed to the cause. Starting in the 1970s and continuing over the past thirty years, the Taiwanese community in Northern California has made many contributions to the Taiwan Democracy Movement.

 

• 1975 – Publication of Taiwan Political Review is Suspended

 

On December 27^th, 1975, the publication of Taiwan Political Review, a magazine started by Tangwai (“outside the party”) City Councilor, Kang Ning-hsiang, was suspended. On January 15^th, 1976, the Third President of TAFNC, Tu Chen, wrote a letter (ghostwritten by me) to Chiang Ching-kuo. In it, he openly expressed TAFNC’s demand that Taiwan Political Review be reissued. Moreover, twelve Taiwanese Americans (including Tu Chen, Chieh-shan Huang, Cheng-chia Huang, Ying-hsuan Hsieh, and Ching C. Shir) went to the Consulate in San Francisco to meet with Consul General Yu-sheng Li, to express their opinions about reissuing the magazine. They even invited Consul General Yu-sheng Li to participate in a symposium organized by the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture on January 23^rd, 1976 to explain the Pai Ya-tsan Incident, and why Taiwan Political Review had been banned. This was the first time that the Consul General discussed current affairs with over one hundred Taiwanese Americans. Though both sides had different opinions, they were still able to conduct the discussion harmoniously. Nonetheless, the symposium attendees were still unsatisfied with the Consul General’s explanations and replies, and Taiwan Political Review was never allowed to reissue; these events sowed the seeds for future resistance.

 

• 1977 – The Beginning of the Resistance – The Formosan Association for Human Rights Still Has a Long Way to Go

 

On February 28^th, 1977, the Formosan Association for Human Rights held the “Thirtieth Anniversary of the 228 Incident” demonstration, which was the first of ten years of anti-Kuomintang demonstrations held in the Bay Area. Dozens of demonstrations were held in the Bay Area up until the 1990s. The leaders of the Taiwanese community at that time felt that the demonstrations and resistance activities had become heated, and since the theme of these protests were the protection of human rights, the Formosan Association for Human Rights decided to take charge of these activities. Since then, the Bay Area Formosan Association for Human Rights has been leading this difficult fight for nearly two decades.

 

• 1979 – “Voice of Taiwan” Begins Broadcasting

 

In April 1979, the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture began broadcasting “Voice of Taiwan” with TAFNC Vice-president, Chieh-shan Huang, as the show’s announcer. The show was able to broadcast the latest news about Taiwan at any time, and it was very well-received by Taiwanese Americans across the nation.

 

• 1979 – The Formosa Incident

 

On December 13^th, when the Formosa Incident occurred, and the Kuomintang made sweeping arrests of Tangwai figures, “Voice of Taiwan” continuously broadcasted the news of these arrests, calling on Taiwanese Americans to do their utmost to help rescue these individuals. On December 14^th and 15^th, the Formosan Association for Human Rights organized hundreds of Taiwanese community members and went to the Coordination Council for North American Affairs building in San Francisco to demonstrate, even rushing into the office building to protest. At the same time, community members immediately launched a rescue mission to help arrested individuals. They met with U.S. legislators, asking for sympathy from the American public and international organizations. Fu-Mei Chang invited Professor Richard C. Kagan, member of a Republican think tank, to attend the Formosa Incident trials in Taiwan. After Professor Kagan returned to the States, he expressed his belief that the demonstrations by the Tangwai members were not rebellious in nature.

On December 15^th, 1979, Shun-wu Hung, chairman of the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture, went to New York to participate in “Coalition of Taiwan Independence,” where he issued a statement that said: “Let the Kuomintang Regime completely disappear from this world.”

 

• The Welcoming Linda Arrigo at the Airport Incident

 

On December 28^th, 1979, Shih Ming-teh’s wife, Linda Arrigo (a member of the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture since 1974) arrived in the Bay Area after being deported by the Taiwanese authorities. When she landed, there were more than one hundred Taiwanese who went to the San Francisco Airport to greet her. During this, a female agent was spotted monitoring the group and taking photos. One of the Taiwanese people caught her and handed her to the police to be investigated. Not long after, the agent pressed charges against everyone that was present. The accused included Tu Chen, Winston H. Chen, Fu-Mei Chang, Thomas H. Chen, and Yung-hao Hsieh. Later, when a lawyer asked her to give a deposition, she suddenly withdrew her accusations, and this legal incident was resolved.

 

■ The 1980s – The Growth of TAFNC Under the Threat of Black Terror

 

In the mid-1980s, the Taiwanese of Northern California were threatened by underground gangsters and the blacklisting strategies of the Black Terror and had witnessed horrific events such as the Lin Family Massacre, the Chen Wen-chen Murder Incident, and the Henry Liu Murder Incident happen one after another. Nonetheless, even though they knew that anyone who became President of TAFNC would be blacklisted, there were still people who refused to be intimidated. After President Rung-fang Chen completed his term, there were nine more Presidents who bravely took on the burdens of TAFNC: Tsun-liang Chang, Shih-ming Huang, Ching-sheng Huang, I-ren Kan, Wen-liang Ho, Andrew Lee, Ri-chang Lien, Ming-chun Chen, and Wan-fu Liao. These nine Presidents actively promoted the Federation’s affairs and organized an increasing number of events, thereby making the Federation stronger and bravely marching on for freedom and democracy in Taiwan.

 

• 1980 – The Active Participation of the East Bay Taiwanese Association

 

I’d like to specially thank Rung-fang Chen for accepting the role of Seventh President. Starting with the Second President, Liang Chuan Peng, the center of the Federation began to slowly migrate southward, with the well-organized Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture and the South Bay Taiwanese Association making up its main forces (16 out of TAFNC’s 30 presidents have been from the South Bay Taiwanese Association.) But, in fall 1978, none of the members of South Bay Taiwanese Association were willing to become President or Vice-president. Thus, I had no option but to step up as President. As I was preparing to step down, I was worried that there would be no one to take over, but fortunately Rung-fang Chen generously agreed to take on the job. Shortly after he took office, shocking events like the Formosa Incident and the Lin Family Massacre occurred one after another, causing a lot of panic. Some people feared that no one would be willing to serve as TAFNC President in the future, but Rung-fang Chen guaranteed that the East Bay Taiwanese Association would willingly take responsibility. Over those five terrifying years, four members of the East Bay Taiwanese Association took on the role of TAFNC President (Rung-fang Chen, Tsun-liang Chang, Shih-ming Huang, and I-ren Kan) and helped TAFNC get through its most difficult five years.

 

• 1980 – Intimidation from Underground Gangsters

 

On February 28^th, 1980, the Lin Family Massacre occurred on the 33^rd anniversary of the 228 Incident. The perpetrators intentionally chose 228 and were of the attitude that they would be protected by their backers; their actions were extremely vicious. When overseas Taiwanese learned of this completely inhuman massacre that had occurred on the anniversary of 228, a date when tens of thousands of Taiwanese youth had been massacred, their hearts were filled with grief and indignation. On March 1^st, many Taiwanese community members participated in a march to protest the Lin Family Massacre [228], and they were beaten up by gangsters (Chi-ho Li, Wu-lue Cheng, Hsi-chung Lin, etc.). Yung-hsuan Hsieh (Chairman of the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture in 1976) had his camera stolen, and after he chased the thief down, the thief was arrested by the police and later plead guilty in court. Many of the other gangsters were also arrested and taken into police custody.

On March 29^th, 1980, the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture invited Hsu Hsin-liang to give a speech at San Jose State University titled “Illuminating the Formosa Incident.” Once again, underground gangsters were at the scene making trouble, intimidating those outside of the venue and puncturing car tires.

 

• 1980 – Rebellion and the Black Terror

 

On April 18^th, 1980, a Taiwanese military court sentenced the Kaohsiung 8 to very long sentences, listed the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture as a “rebel group,” and former TAFNC Presidents Tu Chen and Ching C. Shir as “national traitors.” This period of extreme panic was just the beginning of over a decade of Black Terror. The Taiwanese Associations in the Bay Area were subjected to Black Terror tactics for a long time. On top of gangsters stirring up trouble by attacking and looting, the community’s leaders were all blacklisted, which forbid them from returning to Taiwan or processing any of their official documents. Such is how Black Terror was enforced through underground criminal activity and blacklisting.

 

• 1980 – Su Beng’s Taiwan’s 400 Year History is Published in San Jose

 

On September 22^nd, 1980, following the impacts of the Formosa Incident, the Lin Family Massacre, and Black Terror, Su Beng’s huge book (1540 pages), titled Taiwan’s 400 Year History, was published by Paradise Culture Associates, a publishing company founded by myself, Po-wen Shih, and 20 other members of the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture. In 1975, when I’d been invited to speak at five different universities across Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, I visited Su Beng as I was passing through Tokyo, and asked him to translate his Japanese version of Taiwan’s 400 Year History into Chinese, so that Taiwanese who didn’t understand Japanese would also be able to understand the history of the Taiwanese people. This book writes about the colonial history of Taiwan from the standpoint of the vast numbers of working people that have lived in Taiwan. It took a year for Su Beng to translate the book, and another four years to add an extra 1,000 pages of historical information. Finally, in 1980, it was funded and published by Paradise Culture Associates.

In September 19^th, 2981, Su Beng came to the Bay Area to attend the Mid-Autumn Festival Garden Party, and gave a speech titled “The Taiwanese People’s 400 Year History and Colonial Human Rights.” Su Beng was originally from Shilin, Taipei, but he fled to Japan after his attempt to overthrow the Chiang Kai-shek regime failed. Su Beng was the very last person to be removed from the Blacklist.

 

• 1981 – Professor Chen Wen-chen Returns to Taiwan and is Murdered

 

Professor Wen Chen-chen, who had originally come to the United States as an international student, returned to Taiwan to visit relatives and was murdered on July 3^rd, 1981. His corpse was abandoned next to the National Taiwan University Library. Everyone believes that it was a political assassination. On August 7^th, the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture held the “Chen Wen-chen Incident Seminar.” The Chen Wen-chen incident also attracted the attention of both the American public and its government officials. The U.S. Congress held a public hearing for the Chen Wen-chen incident, and though the case remains unsolved to this day, most people believed that like in the case of the Lin Family Massacre, the National Security Bureau committed yet another black-hearted bloody act, and it made the public extremely resentful.

In 1982, Fu-mei Chang (currently the Minister of the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission) raised funds to create the Chen Wen-chen’s Memorial Foundation. On August 4^th, 1984, the first “Wen-chen Cup Tennis Tournament” was held in Fremont to commemorate Chen Wen-chen’s spirit of sacrificial love towards Taiwan. After this, the “Wen-chen Cup Tennis Tournament” became a one of the biggest summer events for Northern California’s Taiwanese community.

 

• 1981 – The Northern California Chapter of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) is Established

 

Under the encouragement of Ming-min Peng, who had come to the Bay Area, the Northern California Chapter of FAPA was established on June 19^th, 1981. Chao-fu Yang served as the chapter’s first President, and he actively spread news of the Taiwanese people’s desire for freedom and democracy to the American public. Over two decades have passed, and the Northern California FAPA is still very active.

 

• 1983 – Hosting the World Federation of Taiwanese Associations Annual Meeting

 

On July 1^st, TAFNC’s Tenth President, Ching-sheng Huang, hosted the World Federation of Taiwanese Associations (WFTA) Annual Meeting at UC Davis. It was the first time that we had ever hosted the WFTA and doing so increased the level of communication between ourselves and Taiwanese associations around the world.

 

• 1983 – Hosting Youth Summer Camp

 

On April 8^th, 1983, TAFNC and ICD (the local community development center) hosted the first “Northern California Youth Summer Camp.” Pastor Ming-hsiung Wu and Ching-sheng Huang led dozens of youth in learning Taiwanese culture and leadership skills. Later, the camp was taken over by the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture. For many years, Hsin-I Huang has led the Summer Youth Leadership Camp, which now has a twenty-year history. The camp is very popular among the youth and has a very good reputation; some people even travel all the way from Southern California to attend the camp.

 

• 1984 – Promoting Native Taiwanese Literature and Culture

 

On August 11^th, 1984, Native Taiwanese writers Chung Chao-cheng, Li Chiao, and Yang Ching-chu came to the Bay Area to give a lecture titled “The Past and Future of Taiwanese Literature” and garner interest in Taiwanese Literature among the Bay Area Taiwanese population. Taiwanese culture continued to be promoted through Tyzen Hsiao’s performance of “Taiwanese Folk Songs” on April 7^th, 1985; Lin Shuang-bu’s lecture, “Taiwanese Villages and Taiwanese Culture,” on August 6^th, 1986; Sung Tse-lai’s speech, “Taiwanese Culture,” on August 14^th, 1987; and the performance of the “Taiwanese Cultural Music Troupe” at Stanford University on June 4^th, 1989. Throughout the 1980s, TAFNC worked hard to promote Taiwanese Culture, with impressive results. On September 16^th, 1989, TAFNC hosted a Taiwanese-style Mid-Autumn Festival Garden Party and continued to promote Taiwanese culture through its food.

 

• 1988 – Starting the Community Coordination Meeting

 

In 1988, a number of Taiwanese associations were established, one after another. TAFNC held a community coordination meeting, so that all of the Taiwanese associations could gather together and coordinate their shared affairs. TAFNC also took on the task of leading of all of Northern California’s Taiwanese associations.

 

• 1989 – Issuing the Northern California Taiwanese Community Newsletter

 

In early 1989, Sixteenth President Ming-chun Chen began issuing a bimonthly newsletter, called “Northern California Taiwanese Community Newsletter,” publishing a total of 4 issues that recorded the community’s activities in detail. Later, it was issued for six years consecutively (1989-1994). These newsletters have become an invaluable asset in the publication of this thirty-year anniversary commemorative issue, since all of the Federation’s meeting minutes from before 1999 have been lost. Thus, these six years of newsletters have provided us with extremely precious information.

 

■ The 1980s – Promoting the Democratization of Taiwan

 

The relationship between the Taiwanese community in Northern California and the Taiwan Democracy Movement, having started in the early 1970s, and having become closer in the 1980s, runs extremely deep. Together they participated in numerous demonstrations and protests, appealed the American public for their concern, worked to rescue Tangwai party figures, especially those in Taiwan who had not been arrested yet. When these people realized the danger of their situation and came to the United States to avoid the oncoming storm, Taiwanese associations did all they could to give them a warm welcome. On July 2^nd, 1982, the “Tangwai Four,” Ning-hsiang Kang, You Ching, Huang Huang-hsiung, and Chang Teh-ming came to the Bay Area to participate in a panel that had 500 people in attendance.

On December 10^th, 1982, TAFNC participated in the Taiwanese Association of America’s International Human Rights Statement, which called on the Kuomintang to grant an early release to those involved in the Formosa Incident, as well as all other political prisoners. On June 1^st, 1985, a parade was held to stand in solidarity with Shih Ming-teh during his forty-day hunger strike. On November 30^th, 1986, Shun-wu Hung, Twenty-third President of the Federation, and Hsin-liang Hsu were prevented from returning to Taiwan at customs, which caused a police and civilian conflict at Taoyuan airport.

 

• 1986 – The Establishment of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)

 

The Democratic Progressive Party was established on September 28^th, 1986, and Taiwan began down the path towards having a democratic system with multiple political parties. Taiwanese people living both overseas and on the island were extremely excited,

On February 3^rd, 1987, a DPP diplomatic mission came to the United States, and their first stop was the Bay Area. All of the associations of Northern California welcomed them warmly and hosted a banquet for them to speak at. On June 23^rd, 1988 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Taiwan Democracy Bill” with an overwhelming majority. The bill, which was originally proposed by Representative Stephen Solarz, demanded that the Kuomintang accelerate democratic reforms on the island, and to completely re-elect the central government. On November 7^th, 1989, the “Torch of Democracy” arrived in the Bay Area when Huang Hsin-chieh gave a speech at UC Berkeley, igniting public fervor for democratic reform.

 

• 1989 – The Northern California Return Home Mission

On November 18^th, 1989, Seventeenth President, Wan-fu Liao organized a delegation of Northern Californian Taiwanese to return home to Taiwan. Representative Norman Mineta served as the honorary leader of the delegation, which traveled to Taiwan to watch the first public election since Martial law had been lifted. Representative Solarz also went to watch the election. This was the beginning of the Northern California Public Return Home Mission, which returned to Taiwan to assist in the elections. But, due to the blacklist, some people encountered many troubles when returning.

 

• 1989 – Requesting the Cancellation of the Blacklist

 

On August 12^th, 1989, TAFNC invited the Director of the Coordination Council for North American Affairs, En-ti Liu, to come to South Bay and explained why the blacklist was causing difficulties for those trying to obtain visas or cross the border. The “Federation Newsletter,” published on March 2^nd, 1991 by the Eighteenth President, Chi-chang Wu, was focused on the blacklist, and included an in-depth analysis and criticisms of the widespread use of the blacklist. In 1992, decades of blacklisting finally ended, and all the Taiwanese people who’d been blacklisted and had endured many years of hardship were finally able to return home to see their relatives.

 

■ The 1990s – TAFNC’s Increasing Activity

 

With the election of Lee Teng-hui as President and the removal of the blacklist, the interaction between TAFNC and Cultural Associations in Taiwan also gradually increased, and now Taiwanese performing troupes come to visit every year. Taiwanese American professional associations were also established, one after another. In one district, there were twenty Taiwanese American associations, and of course, the responsibility for coordinating all of these associations fell on the shoulders of TAFNC. TAFNC frequently held Community Coordination Meetings, which helped ensure that they were all on the same page. This journal issue contains articles by many of the presidents who served in the 1990s, who wrote in detail about TAFNC’s various activities in those years; I have mentioned some of the more important events here.

 

• 1990 – The Taiwan Folk Art Troupe Wins the Folk Performance Championship

 

In 1990, Seventeenth President Wan-fu Liao established the Northern California Taiwan Folk Art Troupe to promote Taiwanese folk art and culture. On March 10^th, 1990, they participated in the Santa Clara County International Fair and won the Folk Performance Championship. In 2001, their “Taiwan Mazu Tour” team won the Alameda County Fair Championship, introducing mainstream America to Taiwanese culture. With Ling-hsia Liu and Pi-liang Lai as their main leads, the Taiwanese Gezi Opera Troupe’s performances were superb, and attracted huge audiences. Their performance became the finale for TAFNC’s Lunar New Year Banquet. The Gezi Opera Troupe has also performed in Canada, the East Coast, and Southern California, and is well-known across North America.

 

• 1991 – Taiwan Musical Masters Night

 

To actively promote Taiwanese musical masters, Nineteenth President Chi-chang Wu invited famous violinist Hu Nai-yuan to perform at Stanford University on February 8^th, 1992. Twentieth President Shinn-Sheng Chang was even more active in his promotion of Taiwanese culture. On July 12^th, 1992, he held Taiwan Culture Night, and promoting Taiwanese culture became one of TAFNC’s most important tasks. Shinn-Sheng Chang’s wife, May-Sing Chang, and the Twenty-eighth President, Philip Wu, are both master vocalists. The concerts that they held in the Bay Area are unforgettable, for they used beautiful music to express the inner desires of the Taiwanese people, thereby initiating a boom in Taiwanese cultural activities in Northern California.

 

• 1993 – Taiwan Culture Festival

 

On June 27^th, 1993, the first Taiwan Culture Festival was held in Palo Alto, with John Hsieh as its organizer. Over ten years of the Local Taiwanese-style Mid-Autumn Festival Garden Party, in combination with the Taiwanese culture exhibitions, introduced Taiwanese culture to the American public and made significant progress for the Bay Area’s Taiwanese community. The first special exhibition was related to Taiwan’s most popular deity, Mazu. In 1994 and 1995, the Taiwan Culture Festival was organized by Hwalin Lee, who made the culture festival even more enriched. In 2000, Twenty-seventh President, Li-tu Chen, took over the Taiwan Culture Festival, officially making the festival one of TAFNC’s important events. Since then, Li-tu Chen has served as a Culture Committee member, helping to host the annual Culture Festival. Every year, the Taiwan Culture Festival invites Taiwanese cultural associations to perform and adds many exciting programs. Over 6,000 people participate each year, making this TAFNC’s largest event of the year, as well as its main way of introducing Taiwanese culture to the American public.

 

• 1993 – Legislator Chen Shui-bian Makes a Special Trip to Congratulate the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture on its Twentieth Anniversary

 

In 1993, Legislator Chen Shui-bian visited the Bay Area to congratulate the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture on the twentieth anniversary of its founding, acknowledging all of the contributions that the Taiwanese Alliance for Interculture had made to the Taiwan Democracy Movement over the past twenty years.

 

• 1996 – Countering a Chinese Missile Threat

 

On March 8^th, 1996, in an attempt to prevent Taiwan from conducting its Presidential elections, China fired missiles off the coast of Keelung. On the 9^th and 16^th of March, thousands Taiwanese Americans, led by Twenty-third President Shun-wu Hung, demonstrated in the streets of San Francisco, protesting China’s use of force. On June 18^th, 1997, Taiwanese people around the world protested in synchrony against the Chinese annexation of Taiwan. On September 8^th, 2001, large-scale protests and lectures were to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

 

• 1999 – Fundraising $160,000 for Taiwan Earthquake Relief

 

On September 21^st, 1999, a major earthquake occurred in Taiwan, causing serious damage. TAFNC’s Twenty-sixth President, Shun Hua Yu, initiated a donation campaign to raise funds for disaster relief. Over the course of Twenty-seventh President Li-tu Chen’s term, the campaign was able to raise $160,000, which was sent back to Taiwan to help the victims of the calamity. This showed the deep love that the Northern California Taiwanese community has for the homeland.

 

• 2000 – Fundraising $600,000 foe the Presidential Campaign

 

On January 30^th, 2000, the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party, Annette Lu, came to the Bay Area to fundraise. In one night, $600,000 was raised, the largest amount from any place in the United States.

 

■ TAFNC in the New Millennium

 

TAFNC was even more active in the new millennium; it hosted a new Spring Banquet, the Taiwan Culture Festival, and a summer camp. It supported a Taiwanese Language School and the Youth Summer Camp, entertained visiting performance groups from Taiwan, and served the Taiwanese community. The number of members in TAFNC has already increased to over thirty, making TAFNC like a huge family to the Taiwanese associations of Northern California. In the future, it will be even more necessary to gather the Taiwanese community around a central goal, to actively integrate into mainstream American society, securing Taiwan’s safety and that it keeps its proper name.

 

• 2003 – The Establishment of the Taiwanese American Center of Northern California

 

During the 2003 Lunar New Year’s Banquet, President Davis Chang initiated a fundraising campaign for a Taiwanese American Center and received $30,000. On February 16^th, a preparatory meeting was called by Shinn-Sheng Chang. Preparatory meeting members included Davis Chang, Te-hui Chen, Kuang-po Chen, Hwalin Lee, Tien-mo Lin, Tien-tun Shih, Ching C. Shir, and David Weng. Kuang-po Chen served as Secretary General, and May-Sing Chang, Shu-chen Kao, and Yeh-chin each took charge of administrative, program, and financial tasks respectively. On May 1^st, the center began holding events, and now, there are more than 40 events hosted there each month. This project was a major breakthrough for the Northern California Taiwanese community.

 

• Commemorating the Thirtieth Anniversary of Our Foundation

 

At the Lunar New Year’s Banquet on January 25^th, 2003, the Federation celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of its establishment. Over twenty former presidents attended and gave a simple history of the past thirty years of TAFNC. Looking back at the thirty years that have passed, from the 70s when TAFNC was just beginning to learn, passing through the Black Terror of the 80s, and leading up to the removal of the blacklist in the 90s, the Federation continuously worked to serve the Taiwanese community, to promote Taiwanese culture, and to advance the democratization of Taiwan. The new millennium has also brought a change in political parties; out from under the Chiang family’s regime, the country has moved towards an open society that is peaceful even without bloodshed, that is moving rationally towards freedom and democracy, and that respects human rights. The Taiwanese have accomplished a very grand and historical mission, and TAFNC played a very important role in making this piece of history. It is a period of history worth remembering and recording. The very first couplet of this year’s Lunar New Year Banquet was: “The Taiwanese people want freedom, TAFNC strives for the same.” This has been the Federation’s motto for the last thirty years.

 

Excerpt from the Taiwanese American Federation of Northern California 30^th Anniversary Special Issue 09/2003

Translated from 38. 北加州台灣同鄉聯合會三十年回顧/石清正/2014/10