Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors and relatives of victims of the 228 Incident yesterday criticized the city government for putting up signs that describe 228 Peace Park as the “228 Peace Disaster Prevention Park.”
“Since when has the 228 Incident become a ‘peace disaster’?” DPP City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) asked at a press conference while holding pictures of the blue signs with white print that read “228 disaster prevention park” (二二八防災公園) in Chinese and “228 peace disaster prevention park” in English.
Fourteen of the signs were found on streets around the park.
PHOTO: CNA
The 228 Incident refers to an uprising across the country against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime in 1947 that was violently suppressed by the government.
Inside 228 Peace Park in Taipei stands the 228 Memorial Museum, which was used as a radio station during the initial days of the incident to spread news about the uprising that began in Taipei.
Some victims’ family members said the signs’ name change was politically motivated.
“I don’t want to think this way, but I sort of suspect the city government made the change to erase the historic memory,” former Memorial Foundation of the 228 Incident executive director Yang Chen-long (楊振隆) said.
Taipei City Fire Department official Chou Chung-chi (周鍾驥), who took part in the press conference, denied the change was politically motivated, but said the wording on the sign may not be appropriate.
He said the park was designated a “disaster prevention park” in Zhongzheng District (中正) as part of the city government’s aim to create one large open-air disaster asylum for each of the city’s 12 administrative districts.
“For the project, we’ve decided to insert the word ‘disaster prevention’ into each park’s name, so we have signs with names like ‘Da-an Disaster Prevention Park’ and ‘Shilin Disaster Prevention Park,’” Chou said. “‘The name ‘228 Peace Disaster Prevention Park’ does look quite strange, but we didn’t think that far when we made the signs.”
He said the blue “disaster prevention park” signs were put up so people would know which parks have been designated as open-air shelters.
“We will take down all the ‘228 Peace Disaster Prevention Park’ signs within a week, and will hold meetings to decide what should be on the new signs before putting up new signs,” Chou said.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
RSS