The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday expressed regret over an arson attack targeting its headquarters in Taipei in the early hours of the morning, saying the KMT has made a great effort to help soothe the pains of families of the 228 Incident victims.
The 228 Incident refers to an uprising that began on Feb. 27, 1947, and was violently suppressed by the then-KMT government and eventually led to the White Terror era.
“We regret the occurrence of such violence on a day that is marred by historical trauma,” KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said in a news release.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of a member of the public
Lin said that for many years, the KMT and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) have endeavored to assuage the sorrow and heal the pains of those affected by the 228 Incident, and have pushed for ethnic rapprochement.
Taiwan has freedom of expression, Lin said, adding that such aggressive behavior would not only be spurned by people, but also galvanize greater hatred and ethnic division.
“Nevertheless, the KMT will never forget the lessons of the 228 Incident and will continue in its endeavor to promote social harmony,” Lin said.
Lin made the remarks after a motorcyclist allegedly threw four Molotov cocktails and dozens of fliers toward the square outside KMT headquarters at about 3:50am.
According to surveillance footage provided by the party, only one of the Molotov cocktails exploded, causing a small fire, which was extinguished by the building’s security guards.
The fliers scattered on the ground said: “The murderous KMT and the Republic of China [ROC] should not exist in Taiwan. The KMT and the US government should take full responsibility for Taiwan’s massacres and political persecution.”
“The KMT must return all its properties, lands and ill-gotten gains to Taiwanese. The party and the ROC must face the consequences of their actions and be kicked out of this sacred Taiwan,” the fliers said.
Police were investigating the crime as of press time last night.
KMT Acting Chairperson Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) also issued a statement denouncing the attempted arson attack, saying the last thing people want to see is someone taking advantage of the nation’s historical wounds to aggravate social division.
“We should remember this painful history, learn from the lesson of blood and tears, and march forward in solidarity and harmony,” Huang said.
Former deputy legislative speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who is vying for KMT chairpersonship in the Mar. 26 by-election, said the KMT would not succumb to violent threats of any kind.
“I urge police to apprehend the culprit as soon as possible. I do not believe any conduct aimed at spreading hatred under the pretext of ‘transitional justice’ would be accepted by Taiwanese,” Hung said.
Hung said only through understanding, tolerance and respect could Taiwanese head toward a brighter future.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater