For many democracy activists in Taiwan, the Independence Evening Post (自立晚報) is not just a newspaper, it's also a piece of history, a chronicle of the battles they fought against a authoritarian KMT regime.
Founded in 1947, the Post was the first paper in the country to advocate "independence from political parties" during a time when Taiwan was ruled by martial law and press freedom was only a dream.
During its 54-year history, the paper stood out from its counterparts by challenging the KMT's dominance and lending support to dissidents and non-KMT politicians alike.
In 1977, when former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (
Though elected as a county magistrate, Hsu was removed from office for allegedly taking part in an illegal protest.
In 1979, after traveling to the US and commenting on the repressive handling of a peaceful human rights protest which came to be known as the Kaohsiung Incident, Hsu was blacklisted by the KMT regime.
Six years later Hsu was prevented from entering Taiwan for a second time. The Post was the only media organization to report the event.
In 1987, the Post again flouted governmental rules by sending two of its reporters -- Hsu Lu (
Besides having recorded the significant events in Taiwan's political transformation, the Post also acted as a cradle to nurture many prominent journalists. Several of them serve in vital posts in the Chen administration, including the deputy secretary general of the National Security Council and former publisher of the Taipei Times, Antonio Chiang (
In 1988, the Post group founded a morning newspaper one year after restrictions on the press were lifted.
But the frequent changing of management over the last decade seems to have hastened the publication's demise.
After a financial crisis in 1995, the paper was taken over by KMT Taipei City Councilor Chen Cheng-chung (陳政忠), who led the paper down a pro-KMT path.
After considerable struggle, the morning newspaper was shut down in 1999.
In October, Wang Shih-chien (王世堅), a DPP city councilor in Taipei, took over management of the newspaper. The return to DPP favor, however, appears to have done nothing to improve its fortunes.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS