<B>David Dewei (Tzewei) Lin</B> (Chinese name: 林德偉) (b. 29 April, 1974) is an American-born Chinese writer, social commentator, engineer, and amateur musician. Lin is the author of numerous papers on diverse topics in biomedical engineering. He is also the current President of a pro-Chinese Nationalist organization in Taiwan called the Zhonghua Citizen's League, an organization which he helped form along with a former colleague. As a non-scientific political writer, he is considered to by some to be one of the earliest in a new generation of controversial Taiwanese writers for espousing "unorthodox" right-leaning opinions of historical and current events. He is also considered by some to be a Chinese ultra-nationalist, however Lin himself denies this, preferring to call himself simply a person who holds the Chinese people and culture in "high esteem".

Issue of Nationality and Ethnicity

Lin was born in the United States, making him an American citizen by birth, though he rarely identifies himself as an American in either the ethnic or political sense. He currently holds dual citizenship in the Republic of China on Taiwan as well as the United States. Furthermore, while he is often called "Taiwanese", Lin himself does not use this term frequently. He often refers to himself as a "Han Chinese from Taiwan" when asked about his ethnic origins. This could be a result of his strong KMT political leanings and the fact that he rejects the notion of a Taiwanese state. Nevertheless, he has stated that this form of identification is the most culturally and ethnically accurate. Furthermore, since the Republic of China on Taiwan itself is a politically ambiguous area, this term of self-identification is not necessarily partisan in nature, and allows for people to interpret it as they please.

Education

He was born in and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until the age of nine. During this time, he was educated through the local public school system in that town. At the age of nine, he was enrolled in the German-Swiss International School in Hong Kong, where he studied until the age of 13. He then went to the Taipei American School in Taiwan. He graduated from the TAS at the age of 16, after having earned a score of 45 on the IB Diploma Programme exams. In 1990, he returned to America and attended two extra years of secondary school education the Linsly School in West Virginia in order to obtain American certification.

At the age of 18, he attended Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, where he studied biomedical engineering and anthropology. At Vanderbilt, he gained a reputation for being an outspoken individual who was unfraid to express his extremism. Such an attitude nearly had him expelled several times. He graduated from Vanderbilt in 1994, after which he began working in the United States as an engineer. In 1999, he began work on a doctorate thesis on the correlation between craniometric types and DNA haplogroups in mixed-race individuals, during which time he modified standard medical imaging techniques and used them in craniometric analysis. Owing to the fact that his work was politically controversial, the research was considered to be of dubious scientific value by those who espoused racial nihilism. Accusations abounded many times that Lin had received funding for his research from various right-wing activists in America and Europe. At one point, nine of his fellow graduate students attempted to frame him for a breach of ethics, in a campaign to "Get Rid of the Chinese 'Dr. Mengele'". The campaign was a failure, partially due to the fact the party seeking to defame Lin had themselves used racist (both anti-Chinese and anti-German) overtones in their campaign literature, and the fact that ultimately no evidence existed for their accusations. During this time, the One People's Project also got news of Lin's research, and began a camapaign of failed attempts at harassment against him that would continue until he left the United States in mid-2003.

Upon an initial submission of the thesis, Lin was required to revise his experimentation methods and thesis twice in order to make the results seem less inflammatory. Though he has no formal degree in political science or journalism, he is said to have devoted much time to the study of Chinese history and politics outside of his formal studies. Lin has stated that the goal of his historical research is to "put events and statistics in their proper historical context, and correct misconceptions propagated by persons with un-Chinese motives". His papers on this topic are almost exclusively published in the Zhonghua Citizen's League's private journal, the <I>Republican Quarterly</I>. He also is a certified Professional Engineer in the states of Tennessee and New York. Currently in an engineering firm in Taipei, Taiwan.

Political Views

Most commentators have conceded that Lin Dewei is best defined as a Confucian legalist. Consequently, many of Lin's writings defend traditional values and openly reject the ideas of Western "liberal democracy" or "freedom" as being inherently ineffective and ultimately decadent. He is staunchly socially conservative, and politically is considered to be a right-winger. Lin has been called a fascist by some people, and while he accepts that he does "admire" a few aspects of fascism, he repeatedly has stated that Americans and leftists have perverted the term and often use it as an epithet. Though there is a dearth of essays on economic worldview, a few people surmise that he espouses national syndicalism with a few National Socialist elements.

Views on Specific Issues

While Lin lived in America, he voted for the Republican candidate in 1992 and 2000, and the Natural Law candidate John Hagelin in 1996, though he admits that he only cast his vote for Hagelin because he disliked Republican Bob Dole. In the years after he moved to Taiwan, he has distanced himself more from the Republican Party, seeing them as a threat to a Nationalist re-unification, and citing George W. Bush's "loyalty to Israel" as reasons for his abandonment.

After moving to Taiwan, Lin became a staunch supporter the KMT and of Taiwan's reunification with China, and opposes all forms of regionalist separatism. He has also become a staunch anti-Communist, although he is usually only "mildly skeptical" of the People's Republic of China. He has charged various members of the DPPP of being pseudo-communists. He was once fined NT$10,000 for using the flag of the DPP as a doormat to his office. He also spoke out strongly when the Legislative Yuan made plans to permit gay marriages in Taiwan, calling it "immoral and un-Chinese". Lin also had criticized the DPP for turning a blind eye to the presence of foreign and undocumented workers in Taiwan. Lin wrote several essays in 2003 which condemned the political activities of Falun Gong, calling the sect, among other things, "one of the most insanely idiotic concepts in the history of mankind" and "the Scientology of the East". He has also criticized evangelical Christians for being part of a Jewish conspiracy, and criticized the Taiwanese Catholic community for their lack of ethnic loyalty. In the same year, he also voiced support for Palestine, though he distanced himself and a few followers from the traditional left-wingers who supported the same cause, aligning his organization, the Zhonghua Citizen's League, with Hamas.

Lin has reportedly had contact with the former Vlaams Block party in Belgium and met with Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2005 to discuss the 'discrepancies in the story of the Holocaust'. Lin also gave a speech in which he stated that Auschwitz's death total has gone down by over three million, but the six million figure still remains in use. He ended this speech with a mentioning that it was "absurd" that saying anything less than 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust is illegal in many European nations. He then had to flee France to avoid being arrested by the police, but was arrested and detained by German authorities when he attempted to cross the German-French border.

Musical Career

Violin

David Lin is considered to be a "skilled" performer on violin, an instrument which began playing at the age of seven. He is well-versed in the popular repertoire of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern periods. A brief stint of fame followed a performance of Henryk Wieniawski's Deuxieme Grand Concerto en d-moll with the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2002 and 2003, he made several performances in the Chinese mainland, most notably a performance of four of Bach's Sei Solo in Beijing. He has also performed in Singapore, Canada, and the United States. Lin has repeatedly stated his desire not to pursue a professional career in music performance.

Erhu

Lin's career in erhu performance is a bit less well known than his violin career. He began learning the instrument slightly later, at the age of 16, when a friend gave him the instrument as a gift. Unlike his career in violin, he had little formal training in playing the instrument. His appearances include a recording with the Taizhong County Chinese Classical Orchestra. In addition to his work performing Chinese traditional and contemporary music, he has collaborated in a number of cross-cultural projects, including recordings with the Tibetan singer Yadong and the Beijing Jazz Trio.

Other

Lin had a cameo appearance as a guest vocalist on a track in Havohej's Dethrone the Son of God. He has also composed a few short pieces, including the Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano, which is known for its use of non-standard scordatura and the The Reflecting Moon in the River, a set of symphonic poems for small Chinese chamber orchestra based on the poetry of the Tang poet Li Bai. He also plays the tuba and piano.

Criticisms

Though an engineer by training and by practice and profession, Lin is perhaps better known as a rising influence in the Taiwanese print media. When asked about the September 11th attacks, he rather unsympathetically replied, "They [the Americans] had it coming for a long time". Later, he partially retracted that statement, but also said that he was quoted out of context. He further clarified that he did "not support terrorism in any form, but merely wanted to point out a contibuting factor".

Lin gained some notoriety in 2002 for a short essay he wrote entitled which blamed the February 28 Incident on what he termed to be "ultra-leftists" and "communist cells", and which praised the KMT for their quick action. He also criticized incumbent president Chen Shui-Bian for being "like a watermelon: green on the outside and Red [i.e. Communist] on the inside". Many supporters of Taiwanese Independence found this article to be offensive, and it was later pulled from publication. Another article he wrote, entitled "The Strange Case of Palden Gyatso" compared Palden Gyatso to noted Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, and due to the ambiguity of his language, was thought to insinuate Holocaust Revisionism. Several Jewish families living in Taiwan at the time then petitioned for this article to be retracted, as it later was. Some critics have stated that he may hold racist sentiments. Lin has also been known for this sharp criticisms of America, liberalism, and Israel.

Quotes

"This current American problem will only be solved if we can answer the Jewish question...At present, the Americans talk of a regime change in Iraq and Iran, and the Jew Frank Gaffney even suggested one in China. If the Americans [were] intelligent, they would want a regime change in their own country as well as one in Israel...The Jews are criminals, murderers, thieves, and liars, and nobody can trust them as long as they have anything to do with America."

"The abuse of power, and thus the desire to regulate every aspect of the life of the Citizen, and widespread bureaucracy are products of liberal ideas and expressions of leftist methods."

"From what I have learned about Christianity, I concluded that those liberals who are so bold as to call themselves Christians are frauds. Those who distort laws of the primal and final principles of Morality [sic] in the name of tolerance are not fit to live."

*letter to Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church, dated 2/14/1996

"These Christians — the ones from America — they're really no better for us than the Jews. From a cultural point of view, they're only pets to their Zionist overlords, and we should treat them accordingly."

"Leftists are largely incapable of positive successes. Consequently, they hate anything or anyone which is successful."

"The Pan-Green administration are fools if they think that America will help us. The Jews in America care only for Israel, and not for China and not for Taiwan...Their [the Zionist lobby's] fierce passions and fiendish cunning, with intense vitality, became whetted by a keen thirst for blood and sadism. War is their harvest, you know...They are indeed themselves the deadly enemy of all mankind."

*Response when asked about a potential bill to procure armament from the United States.