The Executive Yuan yesterday announced the names of the leaders and some of the members of the government’s transitional justice promotional committee, saying the list would be sent to the Legislative Yuan for approval once it is complete.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday confirmed that the committee is to be headed by 74-year-old former Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄), Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) told a press conference in Taipei.
“Huang joined dangwai [黨外, “outside the party”] activities in the early days and is a prominent democracy advocate in Taiwan,” Hsu said. “He is widely recognized in political circles as an impartial individual who shows a strong sense of mission toward Taiwan.”
Photo: CNA
Huang is one of the few people who, despite adhering to pro-Taiwanese independence views, could be embraced by both the pan-green and pan-blue camps, which makes him an ideal candidate for the chairmanship, Hsu said.
The committee’s vice chairman is to be Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Tien-chin (張天欽), a legal expert who served on the board of the now-disbanded Improper Martial Law Period Insurgency and Espionage Convictions Compensation Foundation.
Established in 1999 by the Executive Yuan, the foundation was tasked with compensating victims of persecution during the Martial Law period. It handled more than 10,000 cases and awarded about NT$19.6 billion (US$673 million) in compensation before it was dissolved in 2014.
Hsu said Chang’s legal knowledge, coupled with his experience working in the government, supplements Huang’s qualities.
Hsu also named four part-time committee members, including Presbyterian Church in Taiwan assistant director-general pastor Eleng Tjaljimaraw (高天惠), a Paiwan who also sits on the Presidential Office’s Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee.
Judicial Reform Foundation member Greg Yo (尤伯祥), Academia Sinica Institute of Taiwan History director Hsu Hsueh-chi (許雪姬) and National Taiwan University history professor Hua Yih-fen (花亦芬) were also nominated.
Yo is equipped with a deep sense of justice and has often represented victims of wrongful convictions, Hsu Kuo-yung said, adding that Hsu Hsueh-chi has been deemed a “walking Wikipedia” for Taiwanese history, particularly concerning the 228 Incident and the White Terror era.
Although Hua is also a part-time member of the Cabinet’s Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, sitting on both committees would not lead to conflict, Hsu said.
The three full-time members for the transitional justice committee have also been determined, but their names would be announced once they complete administrative procedures at their current posts, Hsu Kuo-yung said.
Under the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例), the committee should consist of a chairperson, a vice chairperson, three full-time members and four part-time members.
Their tenure is not to expire until after the committee completes its initial task of compiling a detailed investigative report, a plan of action and draft legislation, which it is to do within two years before being dissolved.
228 Incident expert Chen Tsui-lien (陳翠蓮) is rumored to have been among the nominated committee members, but Chinese-language Up Media on Thursday cited an anonymous source as saying that she declined the offer because she believed that Huang did not know enough about transitional justice to head the committee.
Hsu yesterday declined to comment on the report.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or