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Fang Su-min

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Fang Su-min
MLY
方素敏
Member of the Legislative Yuan
In office
1 February 1984 – 31 January 1987
ConstituencyTaiwan 1st district
(Taipei County, Keelung, Yilan)
Personal details
NationalityTaiwanese
Political partyIndependent
SpouseLin Yi-hsiung
Occupationpolitician

Fang Su-min (Chinese: 方素敏) is a Taiwanese politician.

Life and career

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She is married to Lin Yi-hsiung. Fang visited her imprisoned husband in 1980 and contacted Amnesty International about their meeting, during which Lin disclosed that he had been tortured. After Fang's visit, her twin daughters and mother-in-law were stabbed to death [zh].[1] Fang escaped the stabbing entirely, as she was attending a public hearing held regarding the events of the Kaohsiung Incident, the cause of Lin Yi-hsiung's arrest.[2][3] Fang and her surviving daughter moved to the United States after the attack.[3] The attack occurred on February 28, 1980 (an anniversary of the 228 Incident) and was widely understood to have been a KMT-government-ordered assassination.[4]: 168 

In October 1983, Fang returned to Taiwan and began campaigning for a seat on the Legislative Yuan.[5] The campaign became known as the "holy war of the mother."[4]: 168  The Taipei Times wrote in 2000 that Fang contested the election hoping to find out what happened to her family.[6][7] The publication noted that her campaign was driven by "[s]upporters' tears, anger, and talks of revenge,"[6] though Fang said later that she personally "did not have vengeance in my mind."[7] Fang received approximately 121,000 votes in the 1983 election cycle, and won the third most votes overall.[5][8] During Fang's legislative term, on 15 August 1984, Lin Yi-hsiung was released.[9] A funeral for her mother-in-law and daughters followed in January 1985.[10] As a legislator, she advocated for the release of other prisoners, namely tangwai activist Pai Ya-tsan.[11] After Fang stepped down from the Legislative Yuan, she and Lin established the Chilin Foundation in 1991.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Roy, Denny (2003). Taiwan: A Political History. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801488054.
  2. ^ Wang, Flora (1 March 2007). "The 228 Incident: Sixty years on - Lin I-hsiung mourns his lost loved ones". Taipei Times. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. ^ a b Lin, Mei-chun (1 March 2002). "Lin commemorates family's 228 tragedy". Taipei Times. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  4. ^ a b Cheng, Wendy (2023). Island X: Taiwanese Student Migrants, Campus Spies, and Cold War Activism. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295752051.
  5. ^ a b "Mrs. Lin Fang Su-ming's triumph" (PDF). Taiwan Communiqué. 14: 5–7. January 1984. ISSN 1027-3999. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  6. ^ a b Lin, Irene (3 February 2000). "Opposition activist tries to bury family pain". Taipei Times. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  7. ^ a b Lai, Cheryl (3 February 2000). "Of mothers and daughters". Taipei Times. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  8. ^ Rigger, Shelley (1999). Politics in Taiwan: Voting for Democracy (PDF). Psychology Press. p. 116. ISBN 9780415172080. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-23. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  9. ^ "Major Political Murders Remain "Unsolved"" (PDF). Taiwan Communiqué. 33: 9. February 1988. ISSN 1027-3999. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Funeral for Lin Yi-hsiung's mother and daughters" (PDF). Taiwan Communiqué. 18. February 1985. ISSN 1027-3999. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  11. ^ "Prison Report: Two political prisoners on hunger strike again" (PDF). Taiwan Communiqué. 25: 15. May 1986. ISSN 1027-3999. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  12. ^ Chu, Tse-wei; Chen, Wei-han (12 March 2015). "New museum to focus on democratic development". Taipei Times. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
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