As the Taichung City Government commemorated the 228 Incident yesterday, family members of victims invited to speak at the event accused the central government of not doing enough to uphold transitional justice.
The 228 Incident refers to a nationwide uprising against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime that was brutally suppressed by the army.
The ensuing massacre marked the beginning of the nation’s White Terror era and death toll estimates vary from 10,000 to more than 30,000.
Greater Taichung 228 Association president Liao Ling-hui (廖苓惠), who is the family member of a 228 victim, panned the government-funded Memorial Foundation of 228’s lack of initiative, saying its chairman “does nothing other than take tea with milk and watch TV.”
Chen Shuang-shih (陳雙適), 89, daughter of 228 victim Chen Hsin (陳炘), said that although 71 years had passed, nothing is known of the story surrounding his demise or the whereabouts of his remains.
The families of 228 victims deserve to know the truth, she said, adding that the nation must establish freedom, democracy and human rights as its core values to bring peace to the victims and their loved ones.
Before his demise, Chen Hsin completed a doctorate in economics at the Columbia University in New York City and was one of Taiwan’s first native-born bankers, Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in a speech.
Chen Hsin’s contributions include founding the first Taiwanese-controlled bank, Tatung Trust Co and electronics firm Tagong Enterprises Co, Lin said.
He was also an active member of Taiwan’s nascent civil society and editor of the influential journal Taiwan Youth, Lin said.
During the massacre, the government ordered Chen Hsin’s execution for “leading a conspiracy to commit treason” and for having managed Taiwan Trust Co, which was under Japanese authority during World War II, Lin said.
The body of Chen Hsin has never been recovered, Lin said.
Respect for human rights is fundamental to the Taiwanese national spirit and it is important to foster in each citizen the determination to stand up for justice and equality against hegemonies that would oppress Taiwan, Lin said.
He supports the legislation of a human rights eduction act that would integrate human rights into the public education curriculum, Lin said, adding that this would make Taiwan “a great human rights nation.”
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods