A leading publishing company yesterday released two books covering the life and writing of Taiwan democracy pioneer Lei Chen (
"Lei's bravery and fortitude in his pursuit of freedom and a constitutional government had a strong influence on the development of Taiwan's democracy," President Chen Shui-bian (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"The [KMT] regime was routed by the DPP on May 20, 2000 and [Lei Chen's] ideal of a `free China' started to become a reality," Chen said. May 20, 2000 is the day Chen was inaugurated as president.
Chen praised Lei as "a fighter who dared to challenge authority and pursue democracy and human rights."
`Free China'
In 1960, Lei, a liberal thinker who devoted his life to democratic reform and human rights, was accused of sedition and collaborating with communists and sentenced to 10 years in prison for publishing Free China (自由中國), a biweekly advocating liberalism that was sharply critical of the KMT's autocratic form of leadership.
He launched the China Democratic Party (
The two books released yesterday were Memoirs On The Creation Of A New Party (
Chen was the first person to raise concerns about the improper treatment of Lei Chen and he helped clear the activist's name, Lei Chen's daughter Lei Mei-lin (
Top-level recognition
"This is the first time that Taiwan's highest ranking government official has apologized to us," Lei Mei-lin said in tears.
Many friends, acquaintances and associates of Lei Chen attended the conference yesterday. Former legislative speaker Liang Su-jung (
"Lei Chen was a great man -- a forerunner of the democratic movement. He was a liberal, by no means a communist," Liang said. "I regret that he was sentenced to 10 years in prison without any chance of parole."
Council of Labor Affairs Chairwoman Chen Chu (
As the secretary of democracy activist Kuo Yu-hsin (
"The manuscripts that I delivered were only a small part of his memoirs. Actually, many journalists, priests and students living in US helped a lot," said Chen Chu.
"We hope that Mr. Lei's legacy can be remembered and handed down so that leaders will not commit the same tragedy," she said.
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