11 Facts About Peng Ming-min

Peng Ming-min was a Taiwanese democracy activist, advocate of Taiwan independence, legal scholar, and politician.

Peng Ming-min's publications attracted considerable international attention and distinguished Peng as a pioneer in the new field of international air law.

Peng Ming-min returned to Taiwan and in 1957, at age 34, he became the youngest full professor at the National Taiwan University.

Peng Ming-min was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment but his case attracted worldwide attention.

In 1970, Peng Ming-min managed to travel by plane to Hong Kong and from there to Sweden with a forged passport.

Peng Ming-min was granted political asylum in Sweden, but despite the freedom he enjoyed in Europe, he decided to pursue an appointment at the University of Michigan.

In 1981, he co-founded the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, a Taiwanese lobbying organization based in Washington DC Peng Ming-min served as FAPA's president from 1986 to 1988 and chaired the Asia-Pacific Democracy Association in 1989.

Peng Ming-min testified on Taiwan issues before the United States Congress on several occasions.

In 2001, after Chen Shui-bian was elected president, Peng Ming-min was appointed one of Chen's senior advisors.

Peng Ming-min's remains were interred in a cemetery at the Presbyterian Church in Yancheng District, Kaohsiung.

Peng Ming-min was an ardent baseball fan as a young boy, and when Babe Ruth visited Japan in the 1930s, he wrote a letter to Ruth and received an autograph in return.