National Taiwan University (NTU) said yesterday it would apologize to philosophy professors who were accused of being leftists and fired in 1974.
NTU president Chen Wei-jao (
Chen said the university will send a formal letter to the victims and their families as an apology.
The university said it would welcome those professors to resume their teaching jobs at NTU. Those who do not want to go back to the university will receive NT$60,000 in compensation, Chen said.
Thirteen professors were forced to give up their teaching jobs at that time. Four decided to return to NTU and nine did not.
"This is the most unfortunate incident since NTU was founded. The school authorities felt sorry that political powers intervened in the university. Some did not tell the truth and even framed their colleagues as leftists, over which we feel deep regret," Chen said in a statement released at the press conference.
Ko Ching-ming (柯慶明), one member of the investigation committee set up by the NTU to piece together the truth, recounted the course of the incident at the press conference and said the belated justice demonstrated that academic freedom and loyalty to knowledge do exist.
Ko said that during the 1970s, when tensions arose over ownership of a small group of uninhabited islands northeast of Taiwan -- the Tiaoyutai, or Senkaku, islands, have long been a conflict between Taiwan, China and Japan, each of whom claim them as part of their territory.
The feud neared violence on a number of occasions since 1969, when the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East reported possible hydrocarbon deposits under the islands.
The dispute stoked both nationalist sentiment and prompted cries for peace from several professors in NTU's philosophy department. As students became increasingly boisterous, the authorities ultimately forced the university to close its philosophy department and fire those professors who had been stirring the students to protest.
Ko said the tragedy was manipulated by "certain people with ulterior motives" to frame some professors and students.
According to Ko, former New Party legislator Elmer Fung (馮滬祥), then a philosophy graduate student, was one of the accomplices who instigated the incident under the Taiwan Garrison Command.
Chen Ku-ying (陳鼓應), a philosophy professor who was persecuted in the incident, said he was happy to see the victims' names cleared and appreciated Chen Wei-jao's courage to restore the truth.
He also said that then-KMT secretary-general Chiang Yang-shih (
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS