Su Beng was a representative Taiwanese left-wing nationalist in the socialist sense and is considered the 'Taiwan independence Left'; he opposed Japanese and Chinese imperialism.

[1] Su Beng was born on 9 November 1918 in Shirin Town, Taihoku Chō, Japanese Taiwan (modern-day Shilin District of Taipei).

[2] After graduating from Waseda University in Tokyo with a degree in political science and economics in 1942, he left for China where he worked undercover with the Chinese Communist Party (1942–1949).

He served four months of detention for attempting to illegally enter the country, but when the Kuomintang reported him missing and wanted for his involvement in the plot to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese government granted him political asylum.

[5] Several tall tales existed about Su Beng’s controversial life decisions, one of which included electing to have a vasectomy when he was in his twenties while working undercover for the CCP in China.