Huang Hsin-chieh (
Huang was admitted into National Taiwan University Hospital on Nov. 15 after suffering a stroke. After surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain, he was said to be in stable condition but yesterday morning he suffered a heart attack and was pronounced dead at 11:50am. He was 72.
Born in 1928, Huang's political career started in 1949 when he was elected as a Taipei City councillor. He quickly became identified with the so-called tangwai movement, a broad group of opposition political forces antagonistic to the one-party rule of the KMT.
PHOTO:GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
In 1969, Huang was elected to the legislature for life -- a practice that ended at that election.
He also led a democratic movement, which culminated on December 10, 1979 in a clash -- widely believed to be engineered by KMT provocateurs -- between riot police and protesters, an event later dubbed as the "Kaohsiung Incident" or "Formosa Incident" (
That event is widely recognized as a milestone in Taiwan's quest for political freedom and democratic reform.
As a result of the incident, Huang was arrested and sentenced to 14 years in prison on sedition charges, but was given early parole in 1987. He quickly assumed leadership of the opposition movement and was elected chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, the successor to the tangwai established in 1986 while he was still in jail.
He led the party for three years, helping put through major democratic reforms.
Huang liked to boast of having never lost an election, though actually he did lose in a legislative election in 1992 -- a loss which was reversed the following year after one of the victors was convicted of vote-rigging.
Huang's death yesterday was widely lamented as a major loss to Taiwan of one of the prime movers behind reforms which gave it the democratic system it now enjoys.
"He is the major figure in the movement which brought peaceful democratic reform to Taiwan," said Chang Chun-hung (
"He worked in a peaceful way that saw reforms without bloodshed. And he did not claim credit for those achievements," Chang said at Huang's home.
"He never hesitated to find people who were more capable than himself, and delegate responsibilities to them, hoping that reforms could be made and not fearing that himself would be shadowed by others," Chang said.
"He once considered running for the presidency but when younger people raised objections, he dropped out instantly," Chang said. "He was a loveable old man."
Chen Shui-bian (
"He is my eternal mentor. He was like a father to me. It was he who led me onto the path of politics," Chen said at the doorstep of Huang's house where a makeshift structure was being erected by workers for Huang's funeral.
"When I visited him in the hospital, he could not speak very clearly, but I knew what he wanted to tell me. I won't let him down."
Huang Tien-fu (
"His last clear sentence was `I will help you' which was said to Chen," he said.
Huang's younger brother also said that although he fudged on small issues, he never showed confusion on important matters. For example, he never accepted repeated offers from the Presidential Office of vice-chairmanship to the National Unification Committee.
"We feel sad that he left us on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident. But while life has to end at some point, we must maintain his spirit," said Frank Hsieh (
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS