Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) yesterday brushed aside Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) promise that he would launch fresh investigations into the brutal murders of Lin's family members if he were elected, saying Ma would never make any headway, even if he were president.
"It is nice of Ma to want to reopen the case," Lin said outside the legislature yesterday.
"However, the KMT was in power for 20 years after the attack and no progress was ever made," he said.
Lin's six-year-old twin daughters and their grandmother were murdered on Feb. 28, 1980, while he was in jail for participating in pro-democracy demonstrations in Kaohsiung in December 1979.
Lin maintains the attack was politically motivated.
DEMOCRACY
Describing the KMT as a hindrance to the nation's democratic development, Lin said the KMT should dedicate itself to democracy or its political influence will dwindle.
If it can demonstrate some achievements in the pursuit of democracy, the KMT may be able to put up a good fight in the legislative election in January and presidential election in March, he said.
The prospect of a KMT victory in the two elections is dim, however, as its score card on democratization has been disappointing, he said.
Meanwhile, DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (
Presidential Office Secretary-General Yeh Chu-lan (
"Does he have a guilty conscience? What is he afraid of?" Yeh asked.
Yeh said she also wondered whether Ma had felt any compunction after being hired by KMT authorities to spy on Chen Wen-cheng (
Carnegie Mellon University professor Chen Wen-cheng was found dead on the grounds of National Taiwan University a day after being questioned by secret police in 1981.
The then-KMT government said he had committed suicide.
QUESTIONS
"Why didn't he reopen Lin's case and that of Chen Wen-cheng's [alleged murder] when he was minister of justice or party chairman?" Yeh asked. "Why did he have to wait until he is running for president?"
Showing a copy of a student editorial written by Ma when he was a student in the US, DPP Legislator Huang Chien-huei (
In the editorial, Ma said the cause of death was either accident or murder.
In response to the criticism, Ma criticized the DPP yesterday for failing to look into the unsolved mysteries from the White Terror era and asked it to show the evidence upon which the spying accusations made against him were based.
During a visit to Green Island on Sunday, Ma promised to investigate unsolved mysteries of the White Terror era perpetrated by the KMT government, including the deaths of Chen Wen-cheng and those of Lin I-hsiung's family members.
"The DPP has done nothing to solve the Chen and Lin cases during the seven years it has been in power. And now it is attacking me for wanting to investigate the cases anew," Ma said in Taitung County yesterday.
"Doesn't the DPP feel ashamed?" he said.
He said he promised to reopen the cases but that he could only do so once he has the proper authority as president.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS