The widow of democracy activist Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) and politicians yesterday lambasted a decision by National Cheng Kung University overruling the student body’s plan to name a plaza on campus “Nan-jung Square” (South Banyan Square, 南榕廣場) because of the name’s “political connotation.”
The university’s School Affairs Committee voted 70-21 on Wednesday in favor of not naming the area.
In a student poll last month on naming the area, Nan-jung Square drew the largest number of votes — in honor of Deng, an alumnus, and the banyan tree, the school’s symbol.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
However, university president Hwung Hwung-hweng (黃煌煇) wrote an open letter to the faculty and student body on Jan. 2, citing Article 6 of the Education Basic Act (教育基本法) and saying the name was inappropriate.
Hwang said the school needed to remain politically and religiously neutral.
On April 7, 1989, Deng, the 43-year-old publisher of the Freedom Era Weekly magazine, set himself on fire in his office in defense of the freedom of expression. Police had tried to arrest him for printing a proposal for a constitution for the Republic of Taiwan in the magazine. His suicide ended a 71-day standoff after he locked himself inside the office.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said on Facebook yesterday that the overruling of the vote by a majority of the student body was the worst example of democratic education.
“The school should be more open-minded about the result of the vote and implement the name. It would have been the best resolution to the issue,” Su wrote.
“Deng gave his life so that full freedom of speech would one day become a reality, and his sacrifice has had a great impact on Taiwan’s struggle for democracy,” Su said.
It was sad that the university overruled a democratic decision due to concerns that the name might have “political connotations,” Su said.
During the committee’s meeting on Wednesday — which was open to all students — history professor Wang Wen-hsia (王文霞) said Deng’s choice of suicide was inappropriate and compared the act to Islamist suicide bombers.
She said Deng should have used another method to overcome his difficulties.
Deng’s widow and former Presidential Office secretary-general Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) was outraged by Wang’s comment.
“My heart bled,” Yeh said, adding that it was like reopening old wounds for the family.
Yeh said Wang was a disgrace to the nation’s education system, adding that she would demand a public apology.
Wang later said that she respected Deng’s efforts to promote Taiwanese democracy and respected both Deng and his family, but that she simply did not agree with the method he used.
“Self-immolation is an overtly radical method; the spirit of democracy and liberty is respect for life, not hurting onself or others,” Wang said.
Wang’s explanation failed to pacify her critics, with former DPP chairperson Shih Ming-te (施明德) saying he never thought that the university would have such professors.
“How can a person who cannot tell right from wrong teach students,” Shih told reporters at a press conference.
He added that if Taiwanese could accept and honor the sacrifice of the 72 Martyrs of Huanghuagang (黃花崗), they should be able to accept a local martyr like Deng.
New Taiwan Humanities Research Foundation chief executive Huang Hui-chun (黃惠君) said that Deng had sacrificed his life in pursuit of democracy.
“Deng’s self-immolation caused no fear in society. How can he compared to suicide bombers?” Huang said.
Lin Yi-ying (林易瑩), former head of the university’s student club 02 Group (零貳社) — whose name is a phonetic translation of “protest” in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) — said on Wednesday that the committee’s decision trampled on the democracy of the student body.
The Joint Association of Student Clubs at the university said that they had done all they could and had accepted the committee’s decision.
Huang said it did not really matter what the official name of the area on campus is called. For instance, some people call the National Chang Kai-shek Memorial Hall by other names, such as the Chungcheng Temple, he said.
“Everyone can use a name they want to call the plaza; they can even name it after me,” he said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
BIG YEAR: The company said it would also release its A12 chip the same year to keep a ‘reliable stream of new silicon technologies’ flowing to its customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its newest A13 chip is to enter volume production in 2029 as the chipmaker seeks to hold onto its tech leadership and demand for next-generation chips used in artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and mobile applications. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, also unveiled its A12 chip at its annual technology symposium in Santa Clara, California. The A12 chip, which features TSMC’s super-power-rail technology to provide backside power delivery for AI and HPC applications, is also to enter volume production in 2029, a year after the scheduled release of the A14 chip. The technology moves
RSS