History professor Wang Wen-hsia (王文霞) at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) yesterday apologized for her remarks this week about the late activist Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), but that did not stop academics and students from urging the university to name a plaza on its campus after the democracy pioneer, as students had voted to do.
In a statement issued via the school, Wang apologized twice for not being able to make herself clear on Tuesday when expressing her opposition to the plaza being named “Nan-jung Square” (South Banyan Square, 南榕廣場), “due to time constraints” and for “disturbances caused to society” by the remarks.
“I did not say that Deng Nan-jung was a terrorist. The analogy [between Deng Nan-jung and] Islamist bombers was drawn when I was talking about how people deal with problems in life,” Wang said in her statement.
Photo: CNA
Wang said she meant to say young people must work hard and treasure life when facing hardship, since “I do not approve of coping with life’s challenges in such a radical way.”
The professor, specializing in 19th century and 20th century European history, said she held Deng and many other people in very high regard for their various contributions to Taiwan’s democratic development and had no intention to vilify Deng.
Wang said she did not look at the “political dimensions” of Deng’s self-immolation, but examined them from the perspectives of “education” and “respect for life.”
Screen grab from National Cheng Kung University’s Web site
“Mr Deng has an assured place in the history of Taiwan’s democratic movement. I didn’t have any intention to deny his contribution at all,” she said.
In a second statement, Wang said she sincerely apologized to Deng Nan-jung’s widow, Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), and daughter, Deng Chu-mei (鄭竹梅).
Wang said her remarks have hurt them.
At Tuesday’s meeting of the university’s School Affairs Committee, student and teacher representatives voted 70-21 in favor of not naming the plaza at all, overruling a vote in November last year in which 3,500 students, faculty members and staff chose to name it “Nan-jung Square” in honor of Deng Nan-jung, who set himself alight on April 7, 1989, in defense of freedom of expression.
Wang’s denials about the analogy of Islamic bombers and the way she perceived Deng Nan-jung’s contribution to Taiwan’s democratization process were contradicted by the transcript of her remarks provided by a student club, 02 Group (零二社).
The transcript, along with a video recording of Wang’s remarks, was uploaded online.
Later yesterday, Deng Chu-mei issued a statement in response to Wang’s statements.
The 34-year-old said her father had been a person who had respect for life, loved life and was enthusiastic about life.
“We enjoyed reading Doraemon whenever there was a new edition and were eager to find out what kinds of gadgets Doraemon pulled from its pocket. We often went to a book rental store picking up novels by [Japanese novelist] Jiro Akagawa,” she said.
Deng Chu-mei said that while her father never taught her how to deal with life’s challenges, he had encouraged her to think independently.
“We live on the same island. We need to understand each other better, so we can have a better future. It’s nothing but politics to look at life and history, not a political dimension,” Deng Chu-mei said.
“No matter what the plaza is named or whether it is not named, what they say or do along the way is a challenge for everyone,” she said.
She invited Wang, members of the School Affairs Committee, historians, education workers and people interested in related issues to visit the Deng Liberty Foundation to exchange views.
“Life is precious, we shall never give it up easily. Neither did my father,” she said.
Earlier yesterday, a group of students from several of the university’s students clubs issued a joint statement saying they would have a ceremony to formally name the plaza “Nan-jung Square” when the new semester begins.
More than 200 students yesterday staged a really on campus, demanding an apology from National Cheng Kung University President Hwung Hwung-hweng (黃煌煇).
They said the executives of the school lacked the spirit of a university and democracy, and ridiculed the university’s arbitrary decision not to name the plaza by unfurling a white banner with text, a homophone to Deng’s name, reading: “The emperor finds it [the decision] intolerable (朕難容).”
Meanwhile, representatives of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and the Ding-nan Chen Education Foundation called a press conference in Taipei demanding that the school name the plaza Nan-jung Square in accordance with the November vote.
“The naming incident showed there is still a long way to go to achieve the goal Deng Nan-jung had pursued: 100 percent freedom of expression,” professor of history at Fu Jen University Chen Chun-kai (陳君愷) said.
“We miss him so much,” he added.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique