President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he would ask the National Archive to search for notes, writings or letters by victims of the White Terror era and return them to their families.
Ma made the remarks at a ceremony held at Jieshou Park in Taipei yesterday in memory of those who suffered political oppression during the Martial Law era.
During the White Terror era, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government killed tens of thousands of suspected dissidents, many intellectuals and members of the social elite.
Photo: CNA
In his speech, Ma said the relevant files at the National Archive contained in excess of 2 million pages, and that he hoped to draft a plan and allot funding for the undermanned National Archive to return the victims’ private letters, notes and writings to their families.
Ma added that he hoped the families of victims who would like the documents would contact the National Archive.
Ma went on to say that preventing the outbreak of war would avoid the same tragedy from happening again, adding that it was the primary reason why he has worked to ameliorate cross-strait tensions since assuming the presidency in 2008 because he hoped that the “Chinese people [中華民族] would never fight one another again.”
During the ceremony, letters by White Terror victim Huang Wen-kung (黃溫恭) were returned to his family. Huang was sentenced to death for allegedly joining a communist organization and working for the Chinese Communist Party.
Huang’s son, Huang Ta-yi (黃大一), said the Republic of China government was more inhuman than the Qing Dynasty government, saying the latter did not confiscate revolutionaries’ private letters.
“We’ve waited 58 years for [the return of] these letters, but how many 58 years does a man’s life have?” Huang Ta-yi said.
Huang Ta-yi also suggested the government change the name of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to “White Terror Memorial Hall.”
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary