Amid events commemorating the 228 Incident, a bill calling for people who committed atrocities during the incident to stand trial was blocked in the legislature yesterday, provoking quarrels between pan-blue and pan-green lawmakers.
The bill was aimed at amending the Statute for Handling of and Compensation for the 228 Incident (二二八事件處理及補償條例), enacted in April 1995. The statute detailed a series of steps to help 228 victims and their families.
Dissatisfied with the statute because it focuses largely on compensation issues, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) proposed an amendment that was aimed at determining legal responsibility for the incident.
DPP lawmakers suggested yesterday that the amendment be put on the legislative agenda so that it could be passed on Friday. They were voted down, however, by pan-blue lawmakers.
The DPP amendment would replace the word "compensation" with "indemnification," and enact a special law entitling 228 Incident victims to seek indemnification from the people who injured them and demand those people face their legal responsibility.
"It's been 60 years [since the incident]. As time goes by, it gets more difficult to investigate [who bears] responsibility. The amendment is imperative, as there will be no forgiveness without truth," DPP Legislator Chen Hsien-Chung (
In October 2005 the government introduced an amendment to the law to replace "compensation" with "indemnification." That amendment has been stalled because of a pan-blue boycott.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (
"The KMT and its former chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
KMT legislative whip Tseng Yung-chuan (
"We support changing `compensation' to `indemnification.' But the part about demanding legal responsibility is nothing but a political struggle. It would only cause more ethnic conflict, not bring harmony to society," Tseng said.
He said the party would work to get the long-stalled amendment passed on Friday.
PAPERS, PLEASE: A digital certificate or a printout would return one of three results: green for ‘pass,’ red for ‘not passed’ or yellow for ‘to be determined,’ the CECC said Starting today, people can download a Digital COVID-19 Certificate, with the government now requiring people at night clubs, karaoke bars and other businesses in “eight major special establishment categories” to be fully vaccinated and present a vaccination certificate. The eight categories include dance venues, massage parlors, hostess bars and saunas. Customers and service personnel at the venues have a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, as they can neither avoid contact with people nor strictly observe distancing guidelines, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said. As such, both groups are required to be fully vaccinated, meaning that they must have had at least a
ORDER OF 66 JETS: Delivering the F-16s faster and enabling Taiwan to develop its fleet into one of the biggest in Asia would be based on ‘risk assessment,’ one official said The US is looking for ways to accelerate delivery of Taiwan’s next generation of newly built F-16 jets, US officials said, bolstering the Taiwanese air force’s ability to respond to what Taipei and Washington see as increasing intimidation by the Chinese military. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that they have not yet come up with a solution on how to speed up delivery of Block 70 F-16s, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp and equipped with new capabilities. The aircraft are slated to be delivered by the end of 2026. Taipei has privately expressed its wish for a faster delivery
LAWMAKERS RALLY: Beijing’s unlegislated actions breach international and WTO trade rules, and affect the basic principles of the EU single market, the letter said A group of 41 EU lawmakers on Tuesday condemned China for its political and economic coercion of Lithuania, and called on leaders of the bloc to demonstrate solidarity with Vilnius. The letter was initiated by Slovakian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Miriam Lexmann, who is cochair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. “We, the undersigned members of the European Parliament, resolutely condemn political and economic coercion of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) against Lithuania,” the letter said. The letter addressed European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and
‘GOOD FRIEND’: The Slovenian prime minister said he had visited Taiwan four or five times, and that Taiwanese should have the right to determine their future The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed Slovenia’s plan to establish a representative office in Taiwan, after Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa revealed the plan in an interview with Indian TV station Doordarshan on Monday. Taiwan is a democratic country that respects international democratic standards and international laws, the Slovenian prime minister said in the interview. Slovenia and Taiwan are working on “exchanging representatives,” he said. “Of course, this will not be on the level of embassies. It will be on the same level as many of the EU member countries.” “When I spoke with our businessmen who are trading with Taiwan, they
RSS