ATOT, which consists of 15 local Taiwanese organizations, issued a statement calling on Taiwan’s government to bring in legislation in the spirit of UN General Assembly Resolutions on Holocaust denial, confirming the historical status of the Feb. 28 Incident and forbidding any minimization or denial of the same.
The ATOT statement also demanded that Kuo be removed from any official position and urged the government to make a clear statement that people who hold such views cannot represent Taiwan overseas.
Former lawmaker Albert Lin (林哲夫), chair of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Canada Branch, said Kuo was guilty of hate crimes and should be reported to the Toronto Police Hate Crimes Unit for prosecution.
Lin’s view was widely supported by the assembly of 120 people.
As president of the Taiwanese Human Rights Association of Canada, I spoke about the importance of using this “absurd incident” to make changes in Taiwan, by passing appropriate hate speech and “228 massacre denial” laws to set limits on Taiwan’s emotional interethnic debates.
After the meeting, Taiwanese community leaders drove downtown to present their concerns to Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Toronto, Director Wang Kuo-ran (王國然), who met with them for an hour. Wang promised to transmit their statement to the authorities in Taiwan.
ATOT leaders will be meeting with the Canadian Jewish Congress to discuss the possible application of Holocaust denial and hate crime law models to Taiwan, as well as seeking legal advice on charging Kuo under Canadian hate crime laws.
Michael Stainton
Toronto, Canada
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