Tseng was born in a
Taiwanese indigenous family of the
Sakizaya tribe in the
Hualien County in East Taiwan[7] – an ancient
Austronesian nation of six tribes which been massacred to almost extinction by the
Qing expedition army.[8][9] The last Sakizayan survivors after the
racial cleansing took refuge among the
Amis tribes for 129 years until the extended population of hundreds of people received official recognition to recover their ethnic status in 2007.[10][11]
Later, Tseng's parents immigrated to
Belize but divorced, and his mother brought him back to Taiwan. When he returned to Taiwan, he learned English, Spanish,
Amis and
Taiwanese Mandarin, and represented his local high school to participate in an English competition where he won second place.[12]
Military career
Tseng joined the army in 2016 after high school graduation, and served 5 years in an
armoured battalion and in the 2nd Logistics Department of the Huadong Defense Command, achieving the rank of
corporal, and was honorably discharged in 2021.[13]
On October 23, Tseng's
light infantrytroop was assigned from Terny in the
Lyman direction of the
Donetsk Oblast to
Kreminna in the
Luhansk Oblast, and took out three positions in the following days, then held the frontline awaiting the main force for nine days.[1] On November 1, air-strikes hit the troopers and Tseng hard with
concussion; after covering three colleagues to retreat under the Russian
artillery and
tank siege next day, Tseng suffered from a
head injury and a broken left leg by a
mortar bombardment, then died of bleeding,[1][19][20] becoming the first
East Asian soldier to be
killed in action in
the war,[6][21] Tseng's teammate,
AustraliansniperTrevor Kjeldal (dubbed "Ninja"), also was killed in action by a
mortar attack in the same battle.[22][23] A friend of Tseng, a Japanese volunteer in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion and a colleague in the 49th Infantry Battalion, nicknamed
Dobure [
ja;
zh] posted Tseng's pictures online in lament, stating: "Be my friend in next life" who was later killed in action too on November 9.[24][25]
Ukrainian Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman
Oleksandr Merezhko, Deputy Battalion commander Ruslan Andriyko, and Tseng's American troop leader nicknamed as "Boris", paid tribute to Tseng and Taiwan.[26][27][1] Tseng’s mother comforted: "Knowing that, in the last moments of his life, Sheng-guang was fighting alongside a group of the bravest warriors, that they supported each other and were together in life and death… I find a lot of consolation."[28]
He paid attention to the
ROC military reform issues, and shared the publicized analyses of other professional commentators, including that the
Han Kuang Exercises had become "acting shows", that were not practical in line with actual operations; the four-month conscription service was too short and should be upgraded to one year; and traditional
Huangpu ideology,
bayonet fighting technique,
Vietnam War strategies, etc. were hindering Taiwanese military reforms; and considered that "the
Civil defense system, the
reserve mobilization system, the
disaster response capability, and the
strategic material reserves are immature and some even non-existent..."[31]
Shortly after Tseng's death news revealed, a document was posted online showing unpaid credit card debts and bills summed up to
NT$ 1 million dollars (approximately $32,500
US dollars), and sparked doubt on his actual motive to go to Ukraine. His Taiwanese church chaplain, clergies and Ukrainian officials explained that "his true intention was based on the sense of justice with no desire of heroism, but hearing the call to protect the innocent civilians from brutality and life danger, and telling Taiwan: 'the war was never too far from us', but 'let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream!'" (
Amos 5:24)[7][33][27] Ukrainian Parliamentarian
Inna Sovsun saw Tseng as a Ukrainian soldier, stating that Tseng "had a sense of duty for freedom. For four years, he prepared to defend his motherland from Chinese invaders, but he went to defend a foreign country, which faced the same threat as his."[34][35]
Aftermath
On November 11, 2022, an amateur Taiwanese "Fun Chi Band" (放志樂團) of 6 members released a
MV song to commemorate Tseng's spirit fighting for the democracy and freedom in Ukraine.[36]
From December 21–27, Russia and China held a joint
live fire exercise, dubbed "Maritime Interaction-2022", off
Zhoushan and
Taizhou in the
East China Sea, north of Taiwan, to "further deepen" their cooperation, less than a week after Japan announced its defense budget increase in response to the increasing security threats, including their joint bombers exercises of
Tu-95s and
H-6Ks near its airspace in November and their 2021
circumnavigation of Japanese main islands by a joint Chinese-Russian flotilla.[40][41][42] The
flagshipVaryagmissile cruiser, the Marshal Shaposhnikovdestroyer, 2 corvettes of the
Pacific Fleet and 2 destroyers, 2 patrol ships, 1 multipurpose supply ship, 1 submarine of the
People’s Liberation Army Navy participated the drills with Russian sailors speaking in
Mandarin Chinese, and Russian ships fired missiles.[42][41]
On Christmas, Formosa Republican Association held a memorial concert for Tseng, quoting
President Kennedy's address to be active citizens: "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country", in the Paper Church (built with Japanese donation after
1999 Jiji earthquake) in
Puli, Nantou.[43] Tseng's family also donated all the retrieved Tseng's items from Ukraine to the
National Museum of Taiwan History in
Tainan (Ancient capital of
Tungning Kingdom).[44]
On December 27,
PresidentTsai Ing-wen followed up after a
national security meeting to announce the military reform in Taiwan: conscription term scaling-up to one year with salary increase; shifting the focus on the bayonet fighting techniques to the practical
hand-to-hand combat skills; increasing the basic training contents including
first aid and modernized weapon operations, and the strategical and structural re-design in line with Ukrainian experiences and American modules.[45][46][47] She quoted
Winston Churchill to confront
authoritarianism, and stated: "Ukraine is still struggling, and the firm will of the Ukrainian people to protect their homeland has inspired people all over the world who love democracy and freedom."[48]
On April 10, 2023, the
Anonymous hacking group defaced a Russian website that solicits donations for law enforcement organizations where they uploaded a memorial to Tseng Sheng-guang. Besides that, the hacking collective argued that the "firsts" achieved by the
Soviet Union during the
Space Race were exaggerated and were far surpassed by U.S. accomplishments.[49]
On 9 November 2023,
ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the "Sheng-guang Project" to continue the humanitarian aids of civil society donations in cooperative initiatives with East European states to assist Ukrainian refugees, medical, transport and power system reconstruction need. A logo of "Taiwan Stands Up for Freedom" in three languages under Tseng's Sakizaya nation totem circled with the defense bamboos of their last stand at Takubuwa a kawaw in 1878 was designed to integrate the future support efforts.[50][51]
^
abcdefChen, Yan-ting (November 15, 2022).
"烏克蘭現場/「他是我兒子,我驕傲」台灣志願兵曾聖光的告別式" [Live in Ukraine / "I am proud that he is my son" Farewell to the Taiwanese volunteer Tseng] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Lviv:
United Daily News. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
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ab"УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №246/2023". The Presidential Office of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Kyiv. April 28, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2023. ЦЕНГА, ШЕНГ-ГУАНГА Джонатана Ценга (посмертно) — солдата
^"表彰已故阿美族青年曾聖光Sincyang‧Diway捍衛自由民主之貢獻" [In recognition to the contribution of the late Amis youth Sincyang Diway in defending freedom and democracy]. Council of Indigenous Peoples (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei. December 4, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
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Taipei: Christian Daily.
^Admin (October 2, 2013).
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^Zhou, Jia-ru (November 5, 2022).
"曾奪全縣英文賽亞軍!曾聖光戰死烏克蘭 高中帥氣照成追憶" [Tseng's high school picture winning the English competition in the second place in the County tournament remains in memory] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei:
TVBS.
^"台灣25歲志願兵戰死烏克蘭 家屬證實接獲噩耗" [The family of a 25-year-old Taiwanese volunteer killed in Ukraine confirmed that they had received bad news] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei.
Liberty Times. November 4, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
^Hong, Fu-hwa; Liu, Ting-ting (November 5, 2022).
"首位台籍志願軍曾聖光戰死烏克蘭 友人:為救同袍!他擔心未來戰爭在台灣" [The first Taiwanese volunteer Tseng fought to death in Ukraine; his friend: It's for saving his colleagues! He worried about the future war in Taiwan.] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei.
TVBS. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
^Lin, Kun-wei (November 11, 2022).
"才悼曾聖光「來世當好友」傳戰死 日首例志願軍援烏捐軀" [D.I.A. shortly after grieving Tseng "Be my friend in next life", claimed the first Japanese volunteer sacrifice in the military support to Ukraine] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei: Mirror News. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
^
abLin, Li-hao (November 13, 2022).
"發文哀悼曾聖光 烏軍官向台灣致敬:全國人民感激他" [Ukrainian officer issues a condolence for Tseng and salutes Taiwan] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei. China Times Weekly. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
^
abWang, Jing-yi (November 5, 2022).
"帶著中華民國臂章上烏戰場 曾聖光一度想回台保衛國家" [Wearing the ROC armband to the Ukrainian battlefield, Tseng once wanted to return to defend Taiwan]. Liberty Times (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Hualian. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
^Shi, Zhi-ling (November 9, 2022).
"台灣勇士曾聖光戰死異鄉 王定宇哀悼「英雄永遠不會被遺忘」" [Taiwanese fighter fought to death overseas, Legislator Wang mourns "Heroes will never be forgotten"] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei. Next Apple News. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
^Nakonechna, Vasylyna (November 10, 2022).
"烏克蘭軍方譽曾聖光「無畏戰士」 將辦追悼儀式" [Ukrainian military will hold a memorial service to honor the "fearless warrior" Tseng] (in Chinese (Taiwan)).
Kyiv: Liberty Times. Retrieved November 13, 2022 – via Central News Agency (Taiwan).
^Hong, Rei-chin (November 11, 2022).
"曾聖光壯烈陣亡 本土樂團寫歌紀念送一程" [A local band wrote a song to commemorate Tseng's sacrifice] (in Chinese (Taiwan)).
Tainan: Liberty Times. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
^Wang, Zhao-kun (December 25, 2022).
"留取丹心照汗青 紙教堂音樂會追思曾聖光" [Leaving the loyal heart for the history after death, the concert of Paper Church commemorates Jonathan Tseng] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Puli, Nantou: Radio Taiwan International. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
^Tsai, Han-hsun (September 7, 2023).
"我們不該忘了曾聖光……" [We shall never forget Jonathan Tseng...] (in Chinese (Taiwan)).
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^Li, Yi-wei (December 27, 2022).
"刺槍術改近戰格鬥訓練!學刺針飛彈、紅隼火箭彈!蔡英文:當兵不是浪費時間" [Changing the bayonet fighting techniques to close-range combat training, and learning to operate Stinger Missiles and Kestrel Rockets! Tsai Ing-wen: Serving as a soldier is not wasting time] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei.
CTi News. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
^Tsai, Ing-wen (December 27, 2022).
"兵役延長拍板定案 總統蔡英文召開記者會(全程)" [President Tsai held the press conference to finalize the conscription service extension (Live)] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei. TVBS News. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
^Lin, Yun-zhen (November 9, 2023).
"外交部推「聖光計畫」 讓世界看到「台灣挺自由」" [Ministry of Foreign Affairs promotes "Sheng-guang Project" to show the world that "Taiwan stands Up for Freedom"] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei: Radio Taiwan International. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
^"Taiwan Stands Up for Freedom". Taipei: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC〈Taiwan〉. November 15, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023 – via Youtube.