Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said yesterday that Sunday will be celebrated as "Lifting of Martial Law Memorial Day," but it will not be a national holiday.
"We can tolerate mistakes but we cannot forget them. It is the 20th anniversary of the lifting of martial law. We should face our history and mistakes bravely," Chang told yesterday's weekly Cabinet meeting.
There will also be a book exhibition, a photo exhibition and a concert to mark the day, while the post office will issue a set of commemorative stamps, he said.
PHOTO: CNA
"During the Martial Law era, many books and songs were banned because they were regarded as encouraging the public to rebel against the government. Those books will be on display during the exhibition and the songs will be sung at the concert," Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) said.
Shieh said the book exhibition will be held at the National Library from Saturday to July 31; the photos will be exhibited at the Presidential Office on Sunday and the concert will be held at Kaohsiung's Glory Harbor on Sunday.
Chang said Ministry of Justice statistics show that approximately 140,000 people were sentenced and jailed between May 19, 1949, and July 15, 1987, often without a trial and without evidence.
He said the government had paid a total of NT$18.29 billion (US$554 million) in compensation so far to 15,771 victims of the Martial Law era.
"It is my hope that the government can help the victims. We also hope that the memorial day will help future generations recognize our mistakes and avoid them," Chang said.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Post Co announced details of the commemorative stamps to be unveiled at the Presidential Office on Sunday.
The NT$12 stamps will feature designs featuring the restoration of the freedom of speech, freedom of publication and freedom to form political parties following the lifting of martial law in 1987.
The stamps will be on sale at the post office inside the Presidential Office from 8am to 4pm, as well as at other post offices that are normally open on Sunday.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai