Taiwan Today

He had been an exile for 18 years, wanted for treason in the land of his birth.

He had headed up the weak but noisy "Taiwan independence movement" and posed as the "president" of the "Provisional Govern­ment of the Republic of Formosa".

Any government so challenged might have put a price on his head and hunted him to the ends of the earth.

Instead, the 55-year-old Thomas Wen-yi Liao was permitted to return to his birth-place, the Republic of China's island province of Taiwan, on May 14—forgiven and free, miraculously, almost a hero.

What mattered to the Chinese govern­ment was not the past error of Dr. Liao's thinking, but his awakening to the fact that he had played into the hands of Communism and his decision to stand foursquare with Pre­sident Chiang Kai-shek in fighting the supreme enemy of the Chinese people and nation. As for separatism, the U.S.-educated chemical engineer said he had come to realize the impracticality of an independent Taiwan.

President Chiang and the government showed their magnanimity once again with a full pardon for Dr. Liao. The return of his confiscated properties was expected. This is a policy of long standing. President Chiang has pledged that except for Mao Tse-tung and a few who surround him, even Com­munists will be forgiven and permitted to take their places in the nation's councils when the mainland is liberated. China's government asks only the amends of sincere reform and a genuine dedication to constitutional demo­cracy.

Liao left Tokyo by Civil Air Transport jet under an assumed name and in total se­crecy. There was good reason. The Communist Party is legal in Japan. It has at its command assassins and hoodlums who would have been turned loose on Liao had there been the slightest inkling of his intentions. The Communists never controlled the independence movement or its leader, but they ceaselessly attempted to use it to create conflict between the people of this province and those from the mainland.

Dr. Liao carried no passport when he boarded the plane with two other "very important guests of the Chinese government", a Chinese named Mao Chung-hsin and Nagahide Hara, a Japanese. A Chinese embassy official asked the crew to protect the three men but did not identify them.

Liao's plane ticket bore the name "Liao Shih-kang", and so did his permit to enter Taiwan. His relatives in Taiwan had not been told he was homeward bound.

Fifteen minutes after take-off, a state­ment by Liao was released by the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo. The brief message said his independence movement was benefiting only the Chinese Communists, and that he had decided to join hands with the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) under the leadership of President Chiang.

No Response

Liao had begun to change his thinking more than a year ago. It had become evident that his movement was eliciting no response from Taiwan-born Chinese. Everybody on the island was busily building toward coun­terattack against the Chinese Communists and national reconstruction. Most Taiwanese had scarcely heard of Thomas Liao. Others had forgotten him. He began to learn something of free China's progress since 1949.

Mao Chung-hsin and Nagahide Hara had helped Liao make his final decision. When he expressed fears for his safety, the Chinese government sent a high-ranking offi­cial to Tokyo to reassure him. On March 6, Liao went to the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo to pledge his allegiance to the Republic of China. He requested only that his intentions be kept secret, lest the Communists kill or kidnap him. Not until just before his departure did the embassy inform the Japanese Foreign Ministry and Tokyo Metropolitan Police.

Japanese officials asked him if he was acting in accordance with his own decision and without duress. "Yes," Liao answered in a firm voice.

Press Favorable

Waiting at the airport in Taipei was an impressive throng. Despite the short notice, scores of Liao's relatives and friends were on hand together with officials and members of the press.

Most Taipei newspapers commented on his decision. The consensus was that he had made a courageous decision, and that this should atone for his mistakes. The govern­ment was praised for forgiving him.

—Pointing to the Communist tactics of divide and conquer, the Central Daily News (Chung Yang Jih Pao) said Liao had dis­pelled the illusion of "two Chinas", thereby strengthening the Chinese people's unity.

—The New Life Daily News (Shin Sheng Pao) expressed hope "any group of people still seeking to destroy our unity will courageously follow the example of Liao and join the anti-Communist columns in the homeland.

—The Cheng Hsin Hsin Wen Pao said Liao's decision ''will not only mean the end of a nightmare but also signify the beginning of a new period of unity among the Chinese people." His return is one more proof that the Chinese people ape indivisible, the paper said.

—The English-language China News said Liao's return "should be exploited as a major cold war victory for free China to discredit the Mao hierarchy."

Peiping to Blame

Liao himself said the independence movement was merely the biased view of a few Taiwan-born intellectuals. He noted that the people of Taiwan are Chinese, sharing the same written characters, language, cus­toms, and habits as mainland people. "Blood is thicker than water," he said.

He said the anti-Japanese movement on Taiwan during the 50 years of Japanese colonial rule was closely connected with the Chinese Revolution of 1911, and recalled that the Taiwan Min Pao, one of the island's earliest papers, supported Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Northward Expedition that unified China in 1926-28.

"I came to understand the real nature of the Communists during my exile in Japan and trips to other countries," Liao said. "Pei­ping's infiltration and subversive activities are the real sources of world crisis and of turmoil in Southeast Asia."

Liao was born in 1910 amid the rich rice fields of Silo in central Taiwan. His home­town since has been made, famous by the Silo bridge, longest in the Far East, built after World War II. The Liaos migrated to Taiwan from Fukien in southeast China more than 200 years ago and, became one of the island's richest families.

After primary school and a part of middle school in Taiwan, Liao went to Japan in 1925 to finish his secondary education at the Doshisha Middle School in Kyoto. He then was admitted to the University of Nanking to major in mechanical engineering. Taiwan was under Japanese rule, and Chinese education for islanders was frowned upon. Liao was obviously conscious of his Chinese blood, because he went back to the mainland to teach at the National Chekiang University in Hangchow after receiving his doctorate in chemical engineering from Ohio State Univer­sity in 1935. With the outbreak of hostilities between China and Japan in 1937, Liao served briefly with the Chinese Army Ordnance Corps with the rank of colonel.

Election Failure

In 1940, he returned to Taiwan by way of Canton and went into business. When the island was restored to Chinese rule in 1945, he became interested in public office, including a brief tenure as director of the Taipei City Public Works Bureau.

He sought membership on the provincial council. One of the ballots cast for Liao was declared invalid because of an ink stain. Liao tied with the other three candidates, each with 12 votes. Winners were decided by lot, and Liao was out of luck. In 1947, Liao, went to Hongkong to organize his "Taiwan Re-liberation alliance."

In early 1950, he left for Manila and then Tokyo, where he was jailed for seven months on charges of illegal entry. He or­ganized the "Provisional Congress of the Republic of Formosa" in Tokyo on September 1, 1955, and was elected "honorary speaker". On February 28, 1956, he was made "president" of the so-called "Provisional Government of the Republic of Formosa". He visited Switzerland, Hongkong, the Philippines, and the United States as a "lone campaigner" in 1959 through 1961, and was re-elected "president" of his supposed "government" in 1963.

The day after his return to Taipei" Liao began a series of calls on officials and former friends. He was impressed by the prosperity. "Everything has changed," he said.

Within 48 hours, he was reunited with his 91-year-old mother, now blind and bedridden. The meeting took place at the Liaos' old three-story mansion at Silo, freshly clean­ed up for his return. His surviving brothers and sisters also foregathered at the house.

Errant son and mother cried in each other's arms. But 18 years were bridged quickly. "It's all right, now you are back," she said, and then added, devout Christian that she is: "Thank God for His mercy."

Afterward, Liao told newsmen: "I have little to say. I went to tell you that I've been an unworthy son, a prodigal one, but I'm finally home."

Liao is separated from his own wife, an American, and his two sons and a daughter are also in the United States. But he elected to return to Taiwan because he had come to know love for his country and to heed the call of duty in defending it from the Com­munists. A man who suffered and sacrificed for his convictions for nearly two decades, he has found himself at last. The Republic of China and its people are confident that he will discover important, constructive ways to make amends and help speed the emergence of one united, democratic, peaceful China.