Academia Sinica yesterday began a three-day conference in Taipei to mark the centenary of the May Fourth Movement, with Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) saying that academic research must be independent and free of the yoke of political ideology.
The movement was triggered by a massive student protest in Beijing on May 4, 1919, against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s inaction in the face of intrusive foreign powers, which led to young people pursuing democracy and science.
In his opening remarks, Liao highlighted the founding of Academia Sinica as inheriting the movement’s spirit of developing science, liberty, democracy and creativity.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
The institution was established in China in 1928 when the then-KMT government was based there. It relocated to Taiwan in 1949 following its defeat in the Chinese Civil War.
Academics should adhere to professionalism and independence even when dealing with highly politicized scientific issues, Liao said.
The movement can be described as a moral revolution, given that it led to enlightenment in different aspects of life, such as changing views about marriage with reduced emphasis on parental wishes, Academia Sinica vice president Huang Chin-shing (黃進興) said.
Academic Chen Yung-fa (陳永發) delivered the keynote speech, titled: “How Mao Zedong (毛澤東) abducted the history of the May Fourth Movement.”
Mao misled followers into believing that liberalism was something to shake off in their ideological struggles, Chen said, adding that Mao’s discourses caused the movement to veer toward Marxism.
The conference, which closes tomorrow, has 16 sessions, with more than 60 research papers to be presented, while two roundtables on the final day are to wrap up reflections on and the legacy of the movement, the institution said.
Across the Taiwan Strait, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) highlighted nationalism and political loyalty in a speech in celebration of the movement in Beijing on Tuesday.
The movement led by progressive young people was a patriotic revolution to defend people’s dignity, spread new ideas and disseminate Marxist ideas, Xinhua news agency cited Xi as saying.
Young Chinese people in the new era should continue to love their country, follow the instructions of Chinese Community Party and work to realize the dream of reviving the great Chinese people, Xi said.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS