The future is yet in your power

Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo

Today, July 8 marks the fourth anniversary of the passing of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (1954–2022). A simple yet solemn memorial flower-offering ceremony was held at Bao-An Temple in Hongmaogang, Fengshan, Kaohsiung. Friends from various sectors gathered to pay their respects.

Fig 1: Statue of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Linda Din, internationally known as the “Mother of E-commerce,” presented flowers on behalf of the families of Taiwanese veterans.

Fig 2: Linda Din presenting flowers on behalf of Taiwanese veteran families

In 2016, while we found the way of welcoming the spirit of my uncle Kun-Yi back to Taiwan, we visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

Fig 3: On the way to Tokyo to welcome the spirit of my uncle

Along the way, someone promoted Japanese sake—claiming it was brewed with water from Mount Fuji. Linda unexpectedly bought two bottles and carefully carried them throughout the journey. Upon returning to Taiwan, she was invited to Bao-An Temple and offered the sake there, forming a symbolic connection with the temple.

Fig 4: Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo

In fact, as early as the 2006 APEC CEO Summit in Hanoi, we had a brief encounter with Prime Minister Abe.

Whenever we attended APEC, we would prepare printed "color brochures" in advance. We heard that Vietnam had specially constructed the "National Convention Center" (NCC) for its first time hosting APEC in 2006, with attendance exceeding expectations. Therefore, we prepared over 30 kilograms — 4,000 copies — of color brochures so that every delegate could receive information about the 2003 APEC Best Practice: “Global Channel–TES.”

Fig 5: "Color Brochures" widely distributed at APEC 2006

Due to corruption attacks from island-based cartels, the Australian government arranged for me to stay at the high-security "Sofitel Hotel" together with lecturers. A Japanese delegate who received the color brochure saw me the next day and eagerly brought me to meet Prime Minister Abe.

The TES new techno-economic system selected “contactless TranSmart chip cards” as its transaction tool. At a time when public understanding was still limited, the inventor Linda Din (Ding Lin-Hong) integrated ATM and vending machine functions into a “VAM” (Vending Automation Manager) as a demonstration platform of value-added machine.

Japan has 5.6 million traditional vending machines. If upgraded to VAM, they could generate an additional "500 billion to 1 trillion yen" in fiscal revenue. Japan could then rise rapidly as a leader in the digital economy. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Abe stepped down not long afterward.

Fig 6: Upgrading VAM to revitalize the Japanese economy

At APEC CEO Summit 2009, I reiterated the concept of “Revitalizing Japan through VAM” to Yukio Hatoyama and others in Singapore. Unfortunately, he also stepped down soon after.

In December 2012, Abe was re-elected as Japan’s 96th Prime Minister. In September 2020, he resigned due to health issues. His second term lasted 2,822 days; combined with his first term, his total tenure reached 3,188 days — the longest in Japanese history. On July 8, 2022, Abe Shinzo was assassinated by gunfire while giving a speech in Nara City at the age of 67, and the world mourned his passing.

Bao-An Temple, which enshrines the fallen officers and soldiers of the Japanese vessel “Hō No. 38,” also commissioned a statue in memory of Prime Minister Abe.

Why did Linda Din represent the families of Taiwanese veterans in offering flowers today? Strictly speaking, it may not entirely align with conventional reasoning. Even though we are indeed descendants of Taiwanese veterans, the historical reality remains painful. My uncle, Kuo Kun-Yi, was forcibly conscripted into the Japanese Imperial Army as a young teenager, made to sign a “volunteer form” under coercion, and sent to the South Seas to die.

For 17 years as the grandson of my grandmother, Kuo Chen Shu-Jean, I saw her in tears almost every day. It was not over the loss of vast family property, but over watching her son with impaired vision in one eye being conscripted and sent to his death, powerless to stop it. She could only hold a faded photograph and weep endlessly.

On October 18, 1970, my grandmother fell into a dying state and lay unconscious for seven days and nights. On the 25th, she suddenly awoke, grasped my hand, and said: “Find… find… Kun-Yi!” The pain of a mother who has lost her son is almost impossible to comprehend without witnessing it firsthand.

Two days ago, I received an email, and I replied with an article I had written years ago titled “My Uncle Was a Taiwanese Japanese Soldier.” At the same time, I used AI to restore the old, badly damaged photograph left by my grandmother. At last, my uncle Kun-Yi’s image has been reconstructed.

Fig 7: My uncle Kuo Kun-Yi (AI repaired from Fig 3)

Today, I talked with some friends about "life and death," a major issue involving cause and effect. There is no life without death. If it weren't for Uncle Kun-Yi's sacrifice, and if my father had boarded a Zero fighter plane, there would be no me. There would be no history of Taiwan's precision industry, no Blackstone Angel Fund in New York. The world today might still be in an era where "agriculture and industry cannot cross over."

Today, while discussing “life and death” with several friends, we reflected that this is a profound matter of intertwined cause and effect. Where there is death, there is life. If it weren't for Uncle Kun-Yi's sacrifice, and if my father had boarded a Zero fighter plane, there would be no me. There would be no history of Taiwan's precision industry, no Blackstone Angel Fund in New York. The world today might still be stuck in an era unable to transcend agriculture and industry.

We can honor the dead — but should we not also do something for the living? There are still many families of Taiwanese veterans. If they could form a grassroots civil force to reclaim what rightfully belongs to Taiwanese people, these “accounts receivable” (AR) could be used to promote culture and education, helping students avoid the burden of loans and enabling the younger generation to fully realize their potential. Taiwan could then become a central force in the maritime century.

Peter Li-Chang Kuo, the author created Taiwan's Precision Industry in his early years. Peter was a representative of the APEC CEO Summit and an expert in the third sector. He advocated "anti-corruption (AC)/cashless/e-commerce (E-Com)/ICT/IPR/IIA-TES / Micro-Business (MB)…and etc." to win the international bills and regulations.