To mark the 30th anniversary of the lifting of martial law, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday launched a three-day summer camp for international students to familiarize them with the nation’s democratization.
The camp began with a tour for foreign students of several sites in the north that are significant in the history of the nation’s democratization.
Participants visited Taipei’s Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation, New Taipei City’s Jingmei Human Rights Memorial Park, and Yilan’s Chen Ding-nan Educational Foundation and Chilin Foundation to gain a better understanding of the history of the White Terror era and democracy pioneers Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) and Chen Ding-nan (陳定南).
The tour was fashioned after the Freedom Trail, a route in Boston, Massachusetts, that leads visitors through sites significant to US history.
“The democratic system is the most important part of our national identity and distinguishes Taiwan from China,” DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said. “It is why we began to think, since the 30th anniversary of the DPP’s founding last year, about how to turn Taiwan’s steps toward democracy into a cultural journey or part of the nation’s assets.”
The DPP last year marked the 30th anniversary of its founding and the 30th anniversary of the lifting of martial law this year, and how they contributed to the dismantling of an authoritarian regime and the building of the nation’s democratic system over the years, he added.
“The party’s mission over the next 30 years is to protect our democracy,” Hung said.
Participants included students from the US, Europe and Africa, as well as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and India. The presence of Southeast Asian students is in line with the New Southbound Policy that the DPP administration has implemented to connect with the region, the party said.
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