Henry Liu

For the American civil engineer, see Henry Liu (civil engineer).

Henry Liu Chinese 劉宜良 Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Liú Yíliáng Wade–Giles Liu Yi-liang Southern Min Hokkien POJ Lâu Gî-liông Pen name Chinese 江南 Literal meaning "South of the Yangtze River" (cf. Jiangnan) Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jiāng Nán Wade–Giles Chiang Nan Southern Min Hokkien POJ Kang Lâm
Born	(1932-12-07)7 December 1932 Jingjiang, Jiangsu, China
Died	Daly City, California, United States
Cause of death	Assassination
Monuments	Newseum Journalists Memorial
Citizenship	United States
Education	American University
Occupation	Journalist Gift-shop Owner
Known for	Unauthorized biography of Chiang Ching-Kuo
Notable work	蔣經國傳 (1984)
Spouse(s)	Helen
Children	2

Henry Liu (7 December 1932 – 15 October 1984), often known by his pen name Chiang Nan (江南), was a writer and journalist from Taiwan, Republic of China. Born in Jingjiang, Jiangsu, China, he was a vocal critic of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), then the single ruling party of the Republic of China in Taiwan, and was most famous for writing an unauthorized biography of Chiang Ching-kuo, former president of the Republic of China. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States, and resided in Daly City, California, where he was assassinated by mob members who had been reportedly trained by Republic of China military intelligence.

Assassination

On 15 October 1984, Liu was shot to death in the garage of his home in Daly City, California. His killers fled the country, returning to Taiwan. They did not face trial until the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered a tape made by chief hitman Chen Chi-li implicating Republic of China military intelligence in the killing, whereupon they began to pressure the government to bring Liu's killers to trial. According to Chen's testimony at his trial in Taipei, Wang Hsi-ling of Kuomintang intelligence ordered the assassination. A month after his conviction, Chen retracted this statement. However, Tung Kuei-sen, another one of the killers, corroborated this at his own trial in the United States in 1988, stating that the order for Liu's death had been given by the Taiwanese government. Tung (who had previously been cleared of racketeering charges related to the assassination) was convicted. The assassination became a major political scandal in Taiwan and American officials were critical of the Kuomintang for allegedly orchestrating an assassination on United States soil.

Helen Liu, Henry Liu's wife, filed suit in United States federal district court against the Republic of China. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (Liu v. Republic of China) that the ROC government was liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior; a petition for certiorari from the ROC government to the U.S. Supreme Court was subsequently rejected. The suit was later settled out of court.

The assassination was the subject of the book Fires of the Dragon by David E. Kaplan and portrayed in the 2009 film Formosa Betrayed.

See also

• List of journalists killed in the United States