Hsieh Tsung-min
Co-author of the Taiwan Self-Salvation Manifesto
Democratic Transition
1934–2019
Hsieh Tsung-min, born in 1934 in Changhua, was an important witness to and participant in Taiwan's post-war human-rights and democracy movements. He studied at National Taiwan University and National Chengchi University, receiving a full training in the social sciences and attending to Taiwan's political future. In 1964, together with NTU professor Peng Ming-min and the young Wei Ting-chao, he co-drafted the "Declaration of Taiwanese Self-Salvation," calling for a new constitution and for Taiwan to join the international community as its own entity — an exceptionally early and weighty document of political dissent in the post-war period. The declaration was seized before it could be widely distributed, and the three were arrested; he was sentenced to prison, becoming a political prisoner of the White Terror. After his release he remained under close surveillance, and in the 1970s he was arrested again over accusations involving bombing cases, imprisoned for years in total and tortured during interrogation. He later went into exile, continuing to advocate for Taiwan's human rights and democracy in the United States and exposing political persecution in Taiwan to the world. After the lifting of martial law and democratization he returned, won election as a legislator, and continued to push human-rights legislation and the clarification of authoritarian-era history. In his later years he devoted himself to organizing political archives and to transitional-justice work, giving voice to victims. He died in Taiwan in 2019. Hsieh is seen as a pivotal figure bridging generations of Taiwan's post-war human-rights movement, his drafting of the self-salvation declaration and long imprisonment an important testimony linking the White Terror to the democratic transition.
Co-drafted the Declaration of Taiwanese Self-Salvation (1964)
Repeatedly imprisoned and tortured in political cases
Co-author of the Taiwan Self-Salvation Manifesto
Hsieh Tsung-min
Era
Democratic Transition
Lifespan
1934–2019
Hsieh Tsung-min, born in 1934 in Changhua, was an important witness to and participant in Taiwan's post-war human-rights and democracy movements. He studied at National Taiwan University and National Chengchi University, receiving a full training in the social sciences and attending to Taiwan's political future. In 1964, together with NTU professor Peng Ming-min and the young Wei Ting-chao, he co-drafted the "Declaration of Taiwanese Self-Salvation," calling for a new constitution and for Taiwan to join the international community as its own entity — an exceptionally early and weighty document of political dissent in the post-war period. The declaration was seized before it could be widely distributed, and the three were arrested; he was sentenced to prison, becoming a political prisoner of the White Terror. After his release he remained under close surveillance, and in the 1970s he was arrested again over accusations involving bombing cases, imprisoned for years in total and tortured during interrogation. He later went into exile, continuing to advocate for Taiwan's human rights and democracy in the United States and exposing political persecution in Taiwan to the world. After the lifting of martial law and democratization he returned, won election as a legislator, and continued to push human-rights legislation and the clarification of authoritarian-era history. In his later years he devoted himself to organizing political archives and to transitional-justice work, giving voice to victims. He died in Taiwan in 2019. Hsieh is seen as a pivotal figure bridging generations of Taiwan's post-war human-rights movement, his drafting of the self-salvation declaration and long imprisonment an important testimony linking the White Terror to the democratic transition.
Co-drafted the Declaration of Taiwanese Self-Salvation (1964)
Repeatedly imprisoned and tortured in political cases