He encouraged Taiwanese student Chen Yi-teh to appeal to the UN every February 28 for "Taiwan independence." It even went so far as, when in 1964 Peng Mingmin was arrested for Taiwan independence activities, Fairbank wrote a letter to the New York Times accusing the ROC of "political oppression."
而費正清對推動「台獨」尤其熱心，不僅在報章上鼓吹，還「鼓勵」他的台灣籍學生陳以德在每年二月廿八日向聯合國及美國政府「申請」台灣獨立；甚至在一九六四年，彭明敏因「台獨」言論被我國政府逮捕，費正清還投書紐約時報，控訴台灣的「政治迫害」。