Huang Chin-tao (黃金島), a veteran who fought for the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II and was part of the 27 Brigade after the 228 Incident, died on Tuesday aged 93.
He died peacefully in an intensive care unit with his children by his side, New Culture Association executive director Chen Yen-pin (陳彥斌) said.
Born in Taichung during the Japanese colonial era, Huang served as a volunteer soldier in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Photo: Chen Yi-chuan, Taipei Times
After Japan’s defeat in World War II in 1945, he was detained in China’s Hainan Province before escaping and returning to Taiwan.
After the 228 Incident in 1947, Huang joined the 27 Brigade guerrilla force and led a battle against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) forces in the Wunioulan (烏牛欄) area of Nantou County’s Puli Township (埔里). He fled after the group was defeated.
In 1952, Huang was arrested on charges of insurgency, tried and sentenced to death.
His sentence was later changed to life imprisonment and he was paroled in 1975.
After his release, Huang participated in anti-KMT efforts.
He organized a democratic alliance in Taichung and later joined the Democratic Progressive Party’s Taichung chapter, serving as convener of the chapter’s evaluation committee.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) visited Huang at his home in Taichung in 2007, 2008 and 2017.
In January last year, Huang traveled to Taipei with his family to attend the release of a book on the history of the 27 Brigade written by now-Transitional Justice Commission Acting Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠), who was then an associate professor at National Dong Hwa University’s Department of Sinophone Literatures.
He was greeted with applause at the event.
Taiwanese heavy metal band Chthonic on Tuesday paid tribute to Huang on Facebook.
The band’s members said that they miss their conversations with Huang and would continue to fight for what has yet to be accomplished.
They shared links to two of their songs, Quell the Souls in Sing Ling Temple (鎮魂醒靈寺) and Millennia’s Faith Undone (烏牛欄大護法), saying that they were dedicated to Huang.
Huang’s life was more interesting than the plot of any novel, Chen said on Facebook.
Yang Ko-huang (楊克煌), a former member of the Taiwanese Communist Party, once described party founding member Hsieh Hsueh-hung (謝雪紅) as being “fearless,” Chen said, adding that he believes the same description applies to Huang.
A memorial service has been tentatively scheduled for 2pm on Jan. 21, Chen 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
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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
RSS