Three days of activities to commemorate late democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) are set to begin on Sunday next week in Kaohsiung, with the city designating April 7 as Freedom of Expression Day in honor of Deng.
Aged 43, Deng killed himself by self-immolation on April 7, 1989, in defense of “100 percent freedom of expression.”
At a press conference yesterday in which Deng’s widow, Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), was present, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) delivered an emotional speech, saying she had tried to stop Deng from committing suicide just prior to his death.
The freedom of speech that Taiwanese enjoy is the legacy of pioneering democracy fighters, Chen said.
The Kaohsiung Incident — an anti-government demonstration organized by Formosa Magazine on Dec. 10, 1979, that resulted in the mass arrest and imprisonment of opposition leaders by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — was a milestone of Taiwanese democracy, according to Chen, who was herself imprisoned for six-and-a-half years for her involvement in the incident.
Deng, the founder and then editor-in-chief of Freedom Era Weekly (自由時代週刊), publicly argued for Taiwanese independence on numerous occasions during the 1980s — a time when vocal supporters of independence were often charged with sedition.
His death sent shock waves through the nation and gave rise to a democratic awakening, Chen said.
Freedom of speech is the foundation of democracy and a universal human right, Chen added.
“From the Wild Lily student movement in 1990 to the Wild Strawberries movement in 2008 and the Sunflower movement last year, the nation has seen different generations of activists striving for democracy and freedom, which has prompted the Taiwanese to value the importance of the freedom of speech,” Chen said.
This year’s activities are set to be themed on the Sunflower movement and Hong Kong’s Umbrella movement, the Kaohsiung City Government said, adding that leaders of the Hong Kong protests, including activist Yvonne Leung (梁麗幗), director Chan Tze-woon (陳梓桓) and Nate Chan (陳芊憓), would attend and share their views on various social issues.
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
RSS