The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday criticized President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) decision to unfreeze the budget for the 228 Memorial Foundation, calling it insincere.
“It is clear the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] has boycotted issues related to the 228 Incident because of its ideology and Ma Ying-jeou’s decision to unfreeze the 228 foundation budget was only made because victims’ families were mulling a protest against him over the issue on the eve of 228 Memorial Day. I think Ma’s decision was insincere and hypocritical,” DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told reporters at a press conference yesterday.
Ma on Sunday promised to continue funding the 228 Memorial Foundation with an annual budget of NT$300 million (US$9.2 million) after the legislature, dominated by the KMT, froze last year’s budget and then refused to grant a budget for this year.
SUPPORT
Ma, who has long sought support from 228 Incident victims, said the government would make up for the previous cuts by providing an annual budget starting next year.
The president also asked the Cabinet to apply to the legislature to unfreeze the 2008 budget.
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) told a press conference the KMT government should fund the 228 Memorial Foundation with the whole budget of NT$1.5 billion at once and allow the foundation to operate independently if Ma really wanted to compensate 228 Incident victims.
If Ma is involved in the foundation’s operation, he and his party will be able to manipulate it, Lee said.
Although Ma was making an effort to compensate 228 victims, he and the KMT still idolized the prime culprit behind the killings — dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) — and his decisions to reopen the Chiang Kai-shek mausoleum at Tzuhu (慈湖) and propose changing the name of National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall back to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall was proof of this, Lee said.
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said Ma decided to continue funding the 228 foundation to win more votes in elections.
KMT SUPPORT
Meanwhile, the KMT caucus yesterday threw its support behind Ma’s promise to continue the foundation’s funding, but a KMT legislator who previously proposed freezing the foundation’s budget expressed reservations.
At a press conference, the KMT caucus said it would respect and support the president’s call.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), who was present during the media conference, said the Legislative Yuan could discuss whether to unfreeze the foundation’s budget in the current spring session.
The 228 Incident refers to an uprising against the KMT that began on Feb. 27, 1947, and was followed by a bloody crackdown, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians.
However, KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who proposed last year to freeze the foundation’s budget request, said the government should instead review whether the foundation had achieved its mission of promoting harmony between different ethnic groups.
“Is it really trying to bridge the gap between different ethnic groups or trying to incite conflict and hatred each time Feb. 28 approaches? [If so], it is meaningless to continue to fund the foundation,” Hung told reporters.
When asked for comment on the government’s plan to reinstate the plaque bearing the title Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall by July, Wu said the government should prevent conflict while returning the plaque to the hall.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS