Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation and Memorial Museum
財團法人鄭南榕基金會

Nylon Cheng is an important thinker of political action and media worker in contemporary Taiwan. He sought to expose the injustice of the 228 Massacre and other major incidents and openly supported Taiwanese independence.

Because the "Freedom Era Weekly" magazine that Nylon Cheng established published a draft of a proposed new constitution for Taiwan, in the name of public order they sought to arrest Cheng. To defend his principles of 100% freedom of speech, he spent 71 days refusing to obey the dictates of the authoritarian government while under siege by the police in the publication offices. On April 7th, 1989, as police stormed the offices, he self-immolated himself.

In order to remember the principles of freedom of speech that Cheng upheld and to promote the awakening of Taiwanese consciousness, as well as to promote the development of Taiwanese culture, the Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation was formed on April 6th, 1999--the tenth anniversary of Cheng's self-immolation.

The Nylon Cheng Foundation has set up a memorial museum on the site of Freedom Era Weekly's old offices, preserving the books there as they were during Cheng's lifetime, his diary and notes, as well as the site of the offices as they were after the self-immolation. We encourage all to visit, to see how it was not an easy path for Taiwan to win democracy and freedom.

We continue to carry out Nylon Deng's pursuit of liberty and knowledge, with the foundation continuing to carry out action and research in the name of his ideals. As such, various scholarships and research stipends have been set up, as well as lesson plans for teachers. At the same time, continues to research the thoughts of Nylon Deng and to carry out memorial activities, to support Taiwanese cultural activities, and to publish works about the development of Taiwanese democracy. In order to remember his sacrifices, April 7th continues to be an important day for Taiwan