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.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS