Taiwan has much to learn from Germany and Israel in the pursuit of transitional justice, Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday at a ceremony to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The commemoration was organized by the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and the German Institute Taipei.
Israel’s example of advocating tolerance with reference to Jewish history, and Germany’s honest self-reflection and willingness to take responsibility are worth emulating, Chen said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“We deeply look forward ... to giving citizens a clearer understanding of the development of human rights in Taiwan and the hardships necessary to strive for and defend human rights, not just to remind ourselves not to repeat the same mistakes, but also to unite and work together,” Chen said.
Taiwan would do its best to continue to stand with the international community in defense of common values of democracy, freedom and human rights, he said.
A 2005 UN resolution designated Jan. 27, the day on which Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp, was liberated in 1945, as the international day to commemorate the genocide in German-occupied Europe of more than 6 million Jews, as well as Roma, disabled people, homosexuals and other groups.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Israel Representative Asher Yarden and German Institute Taipei Director-General Thomas Prinz thanked Taiwan for holding a ceremony for the fourth consecutive year.
Some have questioned the need to commemorate the Holocaust, whether “in innocence” or “with malice,” Yarden said, adding that it is important to honor survivors and recognize the uniqueness of the Holocaust, which “has become an ethical code, a scale according to which every genocide in the modern era is measured.”
Taiwan’s participation made it part of a group that “unequivocally declares its commitment to human rights, to democratic values, to the commemoration of the Holocaust and to the learning of its lessons,” the Israeli envoy said.
Prinz said it was important to “promote a culture of remembrance as a bridge between the past and present,” especially as the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles with each year.
Taiwan’s participation in the ceremony put it among the ranks of other liberal democracies, which are “strong bulwarks against human rights abuses and genocide,” he said.
Earlier in the ceremony, Rabbi Shlomi Tabib of the Taipei Jewish Center delivered a prayer in Hebrew.
A video of Taiyuan Puppet Theatre Co’s (台原偶戲團) 2012 play I Have a Name (我有名字), which depicts the real-life stories of three children in the Netherlands aged one-and-a-half to 15 who were killed during World War II, was also shown during the ceremony.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS