Maui Receives Post-APEC Visit from Taiwan Delegation

By Wendy Osher

Sun Yat Sen Park in Kula on Maui is one of the areas where improvements were made in preparation for the APEC conference in November, 2011. Photo by Wendy Osher.

A delegation from Taiwan will arrive on Maui on Monday, November 14, 2011 as part of the 100th year anniversary celebration of The Modern Chinese Revolution, honoring the life of Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission Minister Wu Ying-yih of Republic of China in Taiwan will lead the delegation that includes descendents of Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

The group will travel to Maui’s Sun Yat-sen Park in Keokea for a dedication ceremony in honor of Sun Yat-sen, who is also known as the Father of the Modern China.

Sun Yat-sen went to school in Honolulu, before seeking exile with his family at his brother’s home in Kula.  It was then that he organized the successful overthrow of the Qing imperial government, according to Maui County officials.

“It was the Chinese community here on Maui that rallied behind Dr. Sun Yat-sen,” said Mayor Arakawa.

“His brother Sun Mei, a Keokea resident, was one of the wealthiest Chinese in Hawaii and he poured his entire fortune into his brother’s work.  We are all proud of the role that Maui played in modern Chinese history in becoming a democratic society and world power,” said Mayor Arakawa.

During tomorrow’s ceremony, the county plans to dedicate a bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen, two granite stone lions and a granite stone Chinese gate.  All of the items were donated by the Sun Yat-sen Foundation for Peace and Education.

Tomorrow afternoon, the delegation will travel to Central Maui where a second bronze statue of Sun Yat -sen will be dedicated at the Chinese pavilion at Kepaniwai Park in Iao Valley.  All of the items were crafted to help tell the history of the Chinese in Maui  County.