A play, titled Shiro Heroes, which was inspired by the Taiyuan Prison Incident (泰源事件), is to be staged at the Nan Hai Auditorium in Taipei this weekend, organizers said on Thursday.
The play, featuring interpretive dance and experimental music, is directed by Chang Min-chun (張閔淳) and was jointly commissioned by pro-localist groups, including the Lee Teng-hui Association for Democracy and the People’s News Foundation for Arts and Culture.
Shiro Heroes tells the story of six political prisoners who planned a revolution, the groups said.
The incident — considered an uprising by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government, but an attempt at armed revolution by Taiwanese independence advocates — involved prison guards, inmates and young Aborigines who sought to take over the prison, a nearby radio station and Republic of China Navy ships stationed in Taitung, in the hope of sparking a nationwide revolution.
The six prisoners were captured in the weeks after the failed revolt. Five of them were executed, while Cheng Cheng-cheng (鄭正成) was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Parts of the play were performed at a promotional event on Thursday last week, including a scene in which the prisoners plan the revolution and an action scene with sirens blaring.
“Using history as an inspiration for art is commonplace, but in Taiwan, even talking in public about historical events is to court ostracism and accusations of polarizing society,” said New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐), previously the frontman of the heavy metal band Chthonic that composed a song titled Between Silence and Death (亡命關) inspired by the incident.
Art and history are needed to shape a national character for Taiwanese, Lee Teng-hui Association for Democracy executive director Hsu Lung-chun (許龍俊) said.
“A nation that does not have a historical consciousness is like an animal without a spine,” he said.
The pro-democracy activists in the incident tried to give voice to Taiwanese during the White Terror era through their actions, but their attempt was suppressed, said 228 Memorial Foundation chairman Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元), who is a history professor at National Chengchi University.
“History should not be used as a tool to remember grievances, but rather as an impetus to move forward,” he said, adding that he hopes Taiwan can become a truly independent and sovereign nation.
Citing President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) election victory speech, World United Formosans for Independence chairman Chen Nan-tien (陳南天) said: “Tsai called for ‘humility, humility and more humility,’ but Taiwanese have been humble for four centuries; what we need is courage, courage and more courage.”
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over
RSS