The Transitional Justice Commission is expected to exonerate 1,505 people who were persecuted during the White Terror era, including former legislator Hsieh Tsung-min (謝聰敏) and Aboriginal rights advocate Uyongu’e Yatauyungana (高一生), who was executed for espionage.
A ceremony is to be held at the Jingmei White Terror Memorial Park in New Taipei City on Dec. 9, the day before World Human Rights Day, the commission said.
On Oct. 5, a ceremony marked 1,270 exonerations, with those people the first to have their names cleared on its authority, commission spokeswoman Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) said on Thursday.
The next round of exonerations is to include people killed in the 228 Incident, people who were wrongly convicted of espionage or sedition during the Martial Law period and others who did not fit into those groups, but are nevertheless verified to have been persecuted, Yeh said.
Most of the 1,505 cases qualify for compensation from the Improper Martial Law Period Insurgency and Espionage Convictions Compensation Foundation, sources said.
In 1964, Hsieh was arrested on suspicion of treason after having drafted the “Declaration of Formosan Self-Salvation” with Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) and Wei Ting-chao (魏廷朝), the commission said.
Hsieh was not executed after author Lei Chen (雷震), human rights attorney Tien Chao-ming (田朝明) and the US embassy petitioned on his behalf, and he played a major role in calling for the rehabilitation of dissidents after martial law ended, it said.
However, Hsieh remained a guilty man in the eyes of the law, a situation that is to be rectified next month, the commission said.
Additionally, the commission is to clear the name of Uyongu’e, who was imprisoned on trumped-up corruption charges and executed in 1954 alongside several others of Aboriginal descent, it said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS