Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), who died early yesterday morning due to multiple organ failure, was a driving force behind the pro-Taiwan Independence movement, making such efforts his life’s greatest goal.
Born in 1935 from a family heavily involved in politics in Chiayi County, Chai graduated from National Taiwan University and went on to receive his PhD from the University of Southern California. He later worked as a political science professor at the City University of New York.
His pro-Taiwan Independence stance caused him to be blacklisted by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, resulting in Chai being unable to return to Taiwan for more than 20 years.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
During his time in the US, Chai worked to spread the idea of Taiwanese independence, becoming the first chairman of the Taiwanese Independence League and the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), which he co-founded.
Apart from advocating that Taiwan retain the same allotment of immigrants to the US — 20,000 people — as other countries, Chai drew the US Congress’ attention to the state of democracy and human rights in Taiwan and managed to persuade US legislators to support weapons sales to Taiwan.
It could be said that Chai was a major influence behind US legislators’ support of Taiwan.
Since his return to Taiwan in 1990, Chai devoted himself to promoting the use of referendums in the legislative decision process on public issues and supported public decisionmaking on issues by which they would be affected.
Chai also founded Taiwan’s first local television channel in an effort to break the totalitarian control of the then-KMT government over the media, making Formosa TV a symbol the emergence of free speech and relaxing regulations on TV channels.
Although he drew criticism for founding a TV channel while serving as a member of the DPP’s Central Standing Committee — something the DPP had often criticized the KMT for as a way of censoring free speech — most felt that it did not negate his positve actions.
Chai was often seen at pro-localization rallies and activities and was most fervent in his efforts to strengthen Taiwanese identity and attempts to nurture the growth of pro-local individuals.
A solid pro-Taiwan Independence member within the party, Chai had been adamantly opposed to Beijing for its unyielding stance on the use of force to resolve the cross-strait issues. His passing before seeing his efforts come to fruition has greatly saddened many who had fought alongside him in Taiwan’s democracy movement.
Translated by staff writer Jake Chung
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
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
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
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS