# Su Chii-cherng

Su Chii-cherng (Chinese: 蘇啟誠; pinyin: Sū Qǐchéng; August 1, 1957–September 14, 2018) was a Taiwanese diplomat. He took over as the director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Osaka on July 8, 2018. On September 14 of the same year, he committed suicide by hanging in Japan at the age of 61, allegedly in response to criticism of the office's response to Typhoon Jebi amplified by pro-China disinformation.

## Life

Su Chii-cherng was born in Zhuqi Township, Chiayi County.
Su held a bachelor's degree from the Department of Japanese Language and Literature from Soochow University and a master's degree from the Institute of Japanese Language and Literature at the Chinese Culture University. In 1985, he went to Japan to study at the Graduate School of Japanese Language and Literature, Osaka University, and received his master's degree in April 1988.
He worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs beginning in 1991. In 2007, he served as the representative secretary of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan. He once served as deputy secretary-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan and deputy director-general of the Department of Asia, East and Pacific Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In December 2013, he went to Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, to serve as Director of the Naha Branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan.
In March 2018, Su Qicheng visited Ishigaki Island and briefly described the history of Taiwanese immigration to Ishigaki Island.While serving in Naha, he contributed 40 articles to Japanese media in four and a half years, speaking out for Taiwan and promoting exchanges between Taiwan and Japan. Transferred to Osaka service on July 8, 2018.

## Committed suicide

On September 4, 2018, Typhoon Jebi hit Japan, bringing strong winds and heavy rains, causing severe flooding at the Kansai International Airport, which was built on reclaimed land.Additionally, the connecting bridge between the airport and the mainland was destroyed by a large oil tanker blown by the strong winds, rendering it impassable. As a result, Kansai Airport became isolated like an island, with approximately 3,000 passengers, including Taiwanese and around 1,000 mainland Chinese passengers, trapped in the airport terminal. On that day, Kansai Airport sent buses to transport passengers and refused the request of the Consulate of the People's Republic of China in Osaka to send buses to the airport.
Starting from 6:30 on September 5, Kansai Airport used ships and buses to carry passengers from all over the world out of the airport. Some passengers were taken to Kobe Port by high-speed boats. Passengers from mainland China were taken to designated transfer stations, such as the parking lot of a shopping mall in Izumisano City, and notified the Consulate of the People's Republic of China in Osaka to send a car to Izumisano City to pick up mainland Chinese tourists.
On September 5, the "Storm Baby" account on Weibo in mainland China posted messages and fake videos about the People's Republic of China sending buses to Kansai Airport to rescue mainland Chinese passengers. Within the next half hour, other Weibo accounts followed and fabricated fake news that Taiwanese people were about to get on the bus, and finally the content farm "Guancha" made the news. Taiwan news broke out on September 6, and the first person to post on PTT was "Qingshan", a photojournalist from mainland China.
On September 6, the account "GuRuGuRu," owned by a student named You from Taipei University, posted an article on the PTT Bulletin Board System saying that there was no water or electricity at Kansai Airport. Mainland China sent 15 trucks to get him out of trouble, and he called the Osaka office, which was treated coldly. Other Taiwanese media followed suit in large numbers.
At that time, some netizens questioned the handling of Hsieh Chang-ting, the representative in Japan. Still, a netizen nicknamed "idcc" on PTT posted on September 6, saying that Hsieh had no control over the Osaka office and that the Osaka office should be responsible for the entire incident. Later, the prosecutor discovered that Yang Huiru's account was "slow", and the IP used by the account was the same. Yang Huiru also paid 10,000 yuan per person per month and instructed downline Cai Nan and others through the Line (software) "Kaohsiung Group", and then the downline posted the message to other LINE groups, PTT, and other specific communities, affecting the direction of public opinion. The media reported this fake news without verifying it. The scandal spread, and the Osaka office became the target of public criticism. On September 7, there were calls from opposition members in Taiwan to hold China accountable.
On September 14, 2018, Hsieh Chang-ting, the representative in Japan, pre-arranged a review meeting on the Kansai Airport incident. Su Qicheng did not go to work for the meeting, so the secretary of the office went to the official residence of the director in Shinsenri Minami-cho, Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture, and found that he had hung himself. After receiving the report, the Osaka Prefectural Police went to his house to conduct a cordon search and found a suicide note.

## Behind

Subsequent verification proved that the Embassy of the People's Republic of China did not send a car into Kansai Airport that day but sent a car to the parking lot of the Izumisano City Shopping Center outside the airport to greet mainland Chinese passengers sent out of Kansai Airport. After the death of Taiwanese diplomat Su Qicheng, the police found a student named You from Taipei University who held the "GuRuGuRu" account. The court ruled that he was not guilty of impunity. The latter woman, surnamed Pan, said that the account was for herself, not the student, surnamed You.Later, the government passed an amendment to the law to increase the penalties for spreading false news, with the maximum penalty being life imprisonment.
On December 20, 2018, Su Qicheng's widow accepted an exclusive interview with the TV station. She issued a public statement when Su Qicheng was about to die 100 days ago, stating that only his family had read the contents of the suicide note, which did not directly mention the pressure caused by fake news. Still, After completing the review report assigned by his superiors, one day before the meeting, he expressed his last words that he "did not want to be humiliated" and did not want to be punished for unfounded crimes and transferred to another position.At the same time, he said that some politicians and the media have made inappropriate criticisms and willfully misled, blurring the truth and damaging Su Qicheng's reputation.
On March 4, 2019, Japan's NHK made a special report on this incident on the news program "Close-up Gendai" (クローズアップ Hyundai).

## Honor

Honorary member of the Ginowan Rotary Club of Okinawa Prefecture.

## External link

* NHK [Fake news kills diplomat] on YouTube
* Fake news kills diplomats? ! NHK documentary discussion! (Public Television - Something to Say) on YouTube