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.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration is seeking to join an Indo-Pacific economic framework being planned by the US, a senior official said. The government is paying close attention to the regional economic pact being touted by US President Joe Biden, although too few details have emerged from Washington for Taipei to make specific plans, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The US is expected to launch the Indo-Pacific economic framework next month after negotiations with Australia, India and Japan, the official said. The economic initiative is to tackle trade facilitation, standards for the digital economy and technology, supply-chain resiliency and
PIVOTAL ROLE: Taiwan’s importance in the global chip supply chain can be bolstered by domestic equipment manufacturing, President Tsai Ing-wen said Efforts must be made to better secure Taiwan’s place in the global supply chain by localizing production of equipment and facilities used by the semiconductor industry, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday. Tsai discussed the issue during a meeting with representatives from the Taiwan Electronic Equipment Industry Association at the Presidential Office in Taipei. Product shortages throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — particularly of automotive chips — highlighted the pivotal role of Taiwan in the global supply chain, she said. Tsai thanked the association for cooperating with the government on the shared goal of localizing production of important semiconductor industry equipment.
‘NEW YEAR GIFT’: While the MAC called the song propaganda, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said that it addressed the homesickness of ‘Taiwanese compatriots’ A pro-unification pop song aired on Chinese television earlier this month would only further sour Taiwanese sentiment toward China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Wednesday. The music video for We Sing the Same Song (我們同唱一首歌), which aired on China Central Television, features Chinese artists performing alongside Taiwanese singers Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Chen Li-nong (陳立農). The lyrics were reportedly written by Taiwanese lyricist Vincent Fang (方文山), known for his collaborations with Jay Chou (周杰倫), to music composed by a Chinese musician. Sung in Chinese and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), the song is about three Taiwanese siblings who
SEPARATE CASE? A woman tested positive when she went with her daughter to be tested, because her daughter had taken the same bus to school as a steakhouse worker The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 10 local COVID-19 cases, six of whom had visited a steakhouse in Taoyuan where an infection cluster has been reported. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that of the 10 local infections, one case — No. 17,928 — is a Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport disease prevention staffer who works in the area where inbound travelers collect their saliva for a COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, and sometimes at the fever screening station. The staffer had tested negative in a PCR test on Jan. 9 and
RSS