Giving all for your country
I rather agreed with one of the points in your editorial ("The weakness of the quiet revolution," Mar. 29, page 12), that Taiwan has not suffered as much as many other countries in its gradual transition to a functioning democracy. How-ever, you showed your own dearth of historical depth and feeling in saying that Cheng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) was the only person who had given his life to the country, when he immolated himself in 1989 on the issue of freedom of speech.
Many cases are obvious and still fresh in the minds of those who have sacrificed for Taiwan's democracy. The first lady is permanently paralyzed from the shoulders down due to a vehicular attack right after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lost his bid for head of Tainan county in 1985. In the early nineties, Wang Kang-lu (王康陸), a member of World United Formosans for Independence, lost his life in a suspicious car "accident" not long after returning to Taiwan. In July 1981 Chen Wen-cheng (陳文成), back from the US for vacation, was taken into custody by the Investigation Bureau and was found the next morning dead, thrown off National Taiwan University's research library. And you could hardly not know that the small twin daughters and mother of Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) were knifed to death in their home on Hsinyi Road on Feb. 28, 1980.
There are many more incidents that are not well-known or remembered. At the end of March 1980, after the last day of the trial of the Kaohsiung Eight (which included our vice president), a retired soldier parked his taxi at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, placed a stack of protest leaflets nearby, and torched himself in his vehicle. And a long-time grassroots activist surnamed Chan publicly immolated himself in front of the Presidential Office at Cheng Nan-jung's funeral march.
Linda Gail Arrigo
Taipei
Slanderers should pay up
"I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser" is a quote from Edgar Allen Poe's story, The Cask of Amantillado.
The Taipei district court's recent acquittal of Elmer Fung (
But who are the ultimate victims in Fung's little personal war with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝)? It's the people of Taiwan. These wasteful and ludicrous court proceedings cost taxpayers thousands of dollars and do absolutely nothing for ethnic harmony.
After Fung enjoys his 15 minutes of fame and the trial lawyers pocket their fees, tax payers are left with nothing.
Fung's fraternization with the Chinese communists and his brutal personal war with Lee are simply his ways of garnering support for his personal gains. Does Fung really believe that the people of Taiwan (or himself) would be better off under communist rule?
In truth, Fung himself would probably flee to the US in no time if the communists ever set foot on Taiwan.
Fung knows very well that most of those members of Chiang Kai-shek's (
As a matter of fact, a large number of Chinese POWs captured by the US in the Korean War still wore the KMT insignia. Mao knew very well that traitors cannot be trusted.
Fung is not the only one who benefits from making false accusations, sometimes at the expense of tax payers. We also know that PFP legislator Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) made thou-sands of dollars and laughed all the way to the bank from the publication of her book, A-bian sold out Taiwan.
What are the solutions? Here in Hualien, we have a large population of veterans who desperately need our attention. In addition to government efforts, many charitable organizations, most notably the Mennonite Hospital Foundation, are in the process of building convalescent and rehabilitation homes for the aging veterans and the Aboriginal population. I propose that the guilty party of any slander lawsuit be ordered to donate NT$500,000 to a charity of the plaintiff's choice. Fung has always bragged about his love for Taiwan. Now is his chance to show us the love -- and his money.
Kenny Liu
Hualien
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