National Taiwan University (NTU) students and democracy activists are to commemorate former Carnegie Mellon University assistant professor Chen Wen-chen (陳文成) during a ceremony today which marks the 32nd anniversary of his mysterious death — a case that remains unsolved to this day.
They are set to gather at Chen Wen-chen Memorial Square on the NTU campus and pay tribute to the supporter of the pro-democracy movement at 6:30pm in a ceremony that has become an annual event.
Chen, a graduate of NTU’s Department of Mathematics, studied in the US before becoming an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s math department.
Photo: Mandy Cheng, AFP
He returned to Taiwan to visit his family on May 20, 1982, his first trip back home since leaving for graduate studies in the US in 1975.
He was detained by the Taiwan Garrison Command — a military security agency during the Martial Law era — for interrogation on July 2, 1981, because of his support for the pro-democracy movement.
The next morning, Chen’s body was discovered next to the library at NTU and it was unclear whether his body had been deliberately placed there to appear as though he had committed suicide or had fallen from the building by accident.
The Taiwan Garrison Command said it released Chen after the interrogation and that it had nothing to do with his death.
Chen’s case, also known as the Chen Wen-chen Incident, was one of several possible murder cases related to democracy activists or their families which have remained unsolved after decades of investigation.
A non-profit, the Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation, was created in memory of the assistant professor.
Another notable case occurred on Feb. 28, 1980 — exactly 33 years after the 228 Massacre of 1947, when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops opened fire on civilians, killing thousands — when former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung’s (林義雄) mother and his twin daughters were murdered.
Although the former KMT regime was strongly suspected of playing a role in the murders, there is no evidence to prove the speculation.
This story has been corrected since it was first published to indicate that Chen Wen-chen returned to Taiwan on May 20, 1981.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if the next president of that country decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said today. “We would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said during a legislative hearing. At the same time, Taiwan is paying close attention to the Central American region as a whole, in the wake of a visit there earlier this year by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lin said. Rubio visited Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala, during which he
RSS