Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien’s (連勝文) failure to pay his respects to victims of the 228 Massacre while visiting the 228 Memorial Park yesterday has sparked fierce controversy.
Lien visited the park to pay his respects to historical figures that he said are considered to have made great contributions to the nation.
During his visit, he laid flowers at the bronze busts of Cheng Chen-kung (鄭成功), a Ming Dynasty loyalist also known as Koxinga; Liu Ming-chuan (劉銘傳), the governor of Taiwan during the Qing Dynasy; Chiu Feng-jia (丘逢甲), a patriotic poet who has been honored for his resistance against the Japanese military after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki; and Lien Heng (連橫), a historian, author of A General History of Taiwan and Sean Lien’s great-grandfather.
Photo: CNA
Sean Lien said his visit was prompted by his meeting earlier this week with former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德) — who later quit the party and led the “red shirt” protests against then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in 2008 — who raised the idea of building a shrine for those who had contributed significantly to the nation.
“We are supportive of Shih’s idea of having a place to honor and remember the contributions and deeds of people of diverse backgrounds, ethnic groups and places of origin, who have, at different times, done great things for Taiwan. I think Taipei could work in this direction so that Taiwanese know what their predecessors achieved,” Sean Lien said.
Yet his failure to visit the 228 Memorial Monument in the park, which commemorates the victims of a brutal crackdown launched by the then-KMT regime on Feb. 27, 1947, was interpreted by the local media as intentional.
Yesterday was the eve of Retrocession Day, declared by the previous KMT government to observe the end of Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan and its “return” to the Republic of China in 1945.
Sean Lien’s spokesperson, Chien Chen-yu (錢震宇), confirmed that the visit was purposely made on the eve of Retrocession Day “to pay respect to the four historical figures in the 228 Memorial Park and to thank them for their devotion to the land.”
“As for the 228 Memorial Monument, we will pay our respects another day,” he added.
Sean Lien told reporters that paying tribute to the 228 Memorial Monument was not on his campaign itinerary yesterday.
“[I] followed the planned itinerary. There was no arrangement made [for me to pay my respects to the 228 Memorial Monument today],” Sean Lien said.
Asked about the particularly long prayer he made at the bust of his great-grandfather Lien Heng, Sean Lien said he regretted that — while his camp has refrained from attacking their opponents’ families and ancestors — “the opposition camp has continued the tactic long practiced by the DPP, which is to harshly criticize my ancestors by distorting the facts, taking things out of context and using insulting words [against them].”
The reputation of Lien Heng, well known for his work on Taiwanese history, has been criticized over an opinion piece he wrote for Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpo (台灣日日新報), a daily newspaper published during the Japanese colonial era in 1930.
In the opinion piece, Lien Heng, who was said to have been paid by the Japanese colonial government to write the essay, encouraged the use of opium and called the practice “beneficial.”
Taiwanese literati were infuriated by the essay, resulting in Lien Heng’s ostracism and his relocation to China.
His son, Lien Chen-tung (連震東), returned to Taiwan in 1945 with the KMT regime and became one of the KMT officials responsible for the takeover of the government.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2