The government should demolish any memorials that are reminiscent of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) past autocracy, including the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwanese architect Cheng Tzu-tsai (鄭自才) said yesterday at a book launch in Taipei.
Cheng introduced his memoir about the failed assassination of then-deputy premier Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) in New York on April 24, 1970, while the pan-blue camp was commemorating the 30th anniversary of Chiang’s death at a separate event yesterday.
The assassination attempt was planned and executed by Huang Wen-hsiung (黃文雄), who is Cheng’s brother-in-law, with Cheng as a collaborator.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
However, the attempt failed and the two were detained by police on the spot.
“As the assassination attempt took place about 50 years ago, many people nowadays do not know about it,” Cheng said. “Hopefully, this book can help expedite the nation’s realization of transitional justice.”
The memoir, titled To Kill a Dictator: The Attempted Assassination of Chiang Ching-kuo, was coauthored by Cheng and Alliance for Justice in Educational Transformation secretary-general Chang Wen-lung (張文隆).
The authors discuss vignettes in Taiwanese history from 1936 to 1974, including Taiwanese independence movements in the US, the assassination plan, Cheng’s imprisonment in the US and the UK, and his political asylum in Sweden.
Cheng’s memoir ends when he was released on parole from a US prison on Nov. 25, 1974, and left for Sweden to be reunited with his family.
“The perpetrators of political crimes during the White Terror era should undergo legal trials and punishment,” Cheng said.
“The Chiangs’ ghosts linger in Taiwanese society,” which is why former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and others still worship them, he said.
“The nation cannot become truly free and democratic if its transitional justice is not realized,” he said, calling on the government to demolish the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and other symbols of the KMT’s dictatorship.
By introducing the endeavors of Huang and Cheng, Chang said he hopes the book could incite desire to fight for Taiwanese independence.
Documentation about Taiwanese history has largely been based on KMT propaganda that supports a “one China” principle, while the nation needs more historical texts that reflect the truth, said US political activist Linda Gail Arrigo, who was the English-language translator of the book summary.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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