Arrested at the age of 21 in 1962 and charged with creating the "Taiwan Independence League" (a study group) with the intention of overthrowing the Kuomintang government, Shih was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Kuomintang regime considered outspoken Shih as a highly dangerous political criminal and therefore prevented him from doing any forced labor that would put him in contact with the world outside prison[citation needed].
Access to the Taitung radio station and a publicly broadcast declaration of Taiwan's independence from China was one of their goals[citation needed].
During the 1980 Meilitao Incident trials Shih was defiant and proud facing a potentially fatal court-martial decision[citation needed].
Shih also demanded an end to the political monopoly of the Kuomintang, the control of the Taiwanese press, and martial law, so that the 30-plus-year rubber-stamping legislative session could be dissolved[citation needed].
On 15 July 1987, the 38-year-long order of martial law was declared over by the KMT government, when President Chiang Ching-kuo announced nationwide sentence reductions and conditional releases.
When President Lee announced the invalidation of the Meilitao Trials, Shih Ming-teh finally accepted his release as an innocent person[citation needed].
The Democratic Progressive Party's candidate was defeated by incumbent president Lee Teng-hui, with only 21.1% of the vote (The DPP got around 30% in before regional elections).
In May, Chen before he assumed the presidency, visited Shih's office to personally ask him if he was willing to be appointed senior political advisor.
Shih condemned President Chen for leading the country with a minority government, ignoring the KMT majority in the Legislative Yuan and risking political stability.
Believing that Taiwan's greatest challenge in the 21st century was globalization, together with former colleagues Hsu Hsin-liang and Sisy Chen, the famous Wen Shih-ren and a dozen other intellectuals and entrepreneurs, founded the "Shan (Mountain) Alliance".
During his tenure, Shih researched what he called the "One China: European Union Model" as a means of ending the impasse between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and reiterated his proposal for a constitutional amendment in favor of a parliamentary system, in an attempt to put an end to the political polarization into the two camps (blue or Kuomintang-based and green or Democratic Progressive Party-centered) which was deteriorating into ethnic rivalry between Chinese refugees coming to rule Taiwan in 1949, and those who were there before that time.
[12][13] On 9 August 2006, Shih wrote an open letter to President Chen Shui-bian, whose aides, wife and son-in-law were implicated in several corruption cases.
Shih urged Chen to resign as a display of strength in times of crisis, respect for public opinion and acknowledgement of wrongdoing.
On 12 August 2006, Shih gave a keynote speech to kick-start the "Million Voices Against Corruption-Chen Must Go" campaign in the 28 February Incident Memorial Park.
[15] By 22 August 2006, a sum equivalent of that from over 1 million people had been received (the actual number of donors cannot be computed because there was no restriction on the maximum amount of money one could transfer to the designated account) in only seven days.
According to the Chinapost, over 300,000 people gathered that day on Ketagalan Avenue, in front of the Presidential Building in Taipei under the pouring rain.
[18] On 15 September 2006, a Democratic Progressive Party Taipei city counselor booked the Ketagalan Boulevard site where the red-clad protestors were still gathered.
A climax was reached the night of the procession: a large perimeter of over 5.5 kilometers around the heavily guarded Presidential Building and Residence at the heart of Taipei was quickly flooded by peaceful red-clad protestors: the China Post reported that over 8 hundred thousand people had joined the candlelight encirclement; the Taipei Police again contradicted this with an estimate of 3 hundred thousand.
On 20 November 2006, Shih Ming-teh urged Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (the Kuomintang's 2008 presidential hopeful) to resign amidst accusations of corruption.
Lai Ching-te described Shih as a "trailblazer for democracy, a staunch defender of human rights, and a wise and courageous politician."
Tsai Ing-wen stated that Taiwanese people would "consolidate all our endeavors and persist in building a better Taiwan," reflecting Shih's dedication to the same cause.
Shih was accused by his former wife Chen Li Zhu, in her book The Innocent Song of a Taiwanese Woman, of using her as a sex toy, and failing his responsibility as a husband.
For his opinions, Shih was considered seditious and the media, organizations, academia, everyone attacked him and humiliated him, only for the Democratic Progressive Party to adopt and implement his ideas; they even led the way to Lee Teng-hui's "Silent Revolution" political compromises.
Arrests and repression are no longer the defensive measures of the regime when facing harsh criticism, but the abuse of public power and the media by individuals to insult, humiliate, and defame others is still common practice.
[citation needed] Shih's efforts in discrediting the DPP have been widely praised and reported by various media outlets controlled or owned by the Chinese government.
[34] On 20 November 2006, ifeng.com, web portal of pro-CCP television channel Phoenix TV, reported Shih planned a trip to Thailand to discuss his "red shirt" philosophy.
In the same article, Shih also rebutted claims by representative of the American Institute in Taiwan that the red shirts instigated violence and caused social upheaval.
On 19 April 2010, www.chinataiwan.org, a Chinese government sponsored site, reported Shih claimed numerous prominent DPP leaders, including Chen Shui-bian and Hsieh Chang-ting, were undercover agents for the Kuomintang against political dissidents during the 1980s.
[38] On 17 April 2011, Shih courted controversy when he asked Tsai Ing-Wen to publicly disclose her sexual orientation before she participated in her presidential bid.