The Deng Nan-jung Memorial Hall yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the death of democracy movement pioneer Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) with a renewed pledge to push for freedom and human rights.
On April 7, 1989, Deng, then editor-in-chief of Freedom Era Weekly (自由時代週刊), set himself on fire as heavily armed police attempted to break into his office following his 71 days of self-imposed isolation after he was charged with sedition for the anti-government views expressed in his magazine, which published a draft “Republic of Taiwan constitution” in 1988.
The site of that office was later named Deng Nan-jung Memorial Hall in commemoration of his bravery in calling for “100 percent freedom of expression.”
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
At the commemoration yesterday, cellist Ouyang Hui-ru (歐陽慧儒) played folk music and poet Lee Min-yung (李敏勇) read a poem in memory of Deng.
Kenneth Chiu (邱晃泉), chairman of the Deng Liberty Foundation, said the foundation would continue to advocate freedom, democracy and human rights with Deng’s spirit in mind, and that he hoped the memorial hall would one day be an internationally known human rights museum.
Born in Taiwan in 1947 to a Mainlander family, Deng clearly and publicly voiced his support for Taiwanese independence on numerous occasions in the 1980s — a time when such statements could bring charges of sedition.
A libertarian, Deng believed in freedom of expression and established Freedom Era Weekly in 1984 in pursuit of what he called “100 percent freedom of expression.”
Many young Internet users yesterday remembered him by changing their screen names to a well-known quote by Deng.
A number of people online appeared with screen names like “My name is Nathan, I support independence for Taiwan” or “My name is Kai, I support independence for Taiwan” on social networks such as Plurk.com, MSN Live Messenger or Gtalk in a coordinated action to memorialize Deng.
In 1987, Deng made a widely known statement when delivering a speech at a rally in Taipei: “My name is Deng Nan-jung, I support independence for Taiwan.”
The statement could have gotten him into trouble because the issue of independence was taboo under Martial Law. However, Deng insisted on openly declaring his political ideology because he believed that freedom of expression was a fundamental right for all people.
Nathan, an Internet user who initiated the action on Plurk.com on Friday, said that he was inspired to do so after watching a documentary on Deng and reading a blog entry by an Internet user last year that criticized the public for forgetting the price that Taiwan had paid for freedom of speech.
Without advertising the action through the mass media, the number of people who joined Nathan’s online memorial had passed 100 as of yesterday afternoon.
“When you know that you enjoy the freedom you have right now because someone sacrificed his life for it, you don’t have any excuse to not join in,” said Huang Man-ting (黃曼婷), a university student. “Someone may think it’s a stupid project, but at least you should learn to show your friends your political ideology and tell your friends what you believe in.”
While most people chose to join the action using only their online nicknames, Huang is one of the few people who did so with her real name on Plurk.com, MSN and Gtalk.
“The coordination is meaningless if you use your nickname. If Deng fought for 100 percent freedom of speech, we cannot discount it,” she said. “The KMT is still so arrogant because they know most Taiwanese are too afraid of getting into trouble.”
The action will continue until Tuesday, which marks the 20th anniversary of Deng’s death.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS