The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and victims of the nation’s authoritarian era yesterday expressed solidarity with the Transitional Justice Commission as they accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration of shying away from transitional justice.
The Legislative Yuan last year passed the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例), which provided the legal basis on which the commission was founded and can exercise its authority, TSU administrative director Chou Ni-an (周倪安) told a news conference in Taipei.
However, the entire administration, from President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the Ministry of National Defense and the Veterans Affairs Council to the central bank, has distanced itself from the commission’s legally mandated task of removing publicly displayed authoritarian symbols, she said, referring to a proposal by the commission to replace coins and banknotes that bear the portrait of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Executive Yuan members who have spoken out against the proposal should step down for opposing a law ratified by the president, she said.
The People First Party on Friday panned measures suggested by the commission as “discrediting the Chiangs” — referring to Chiang Kai-shek and his son former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
“If the Chiangs should not be discredited, who should? [Former presidents] Lee [Teng-hui, 李登輝]? Chen [Shui-bian, 陳水扁]? Ma [Ying-jeou, 馬英九]?” she asked.
Lauding the performance of commission acting chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠), Chou said that the TSU would fully support the commission.
Taiwan 228 Incident Care Association director-general Pan Hsin-hsing (潘信行) said it is “illogical” that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which used to be a perpetrator of injustices, is pointing fingers at the government and calling it an “Eastern Depot,” referring to a Ming Dynasty secret police and spy agency.
This has caused the DPP to backpedal on its stance on transitional justice, Pan added.
The KMT had labeled the commission an Eastern Depot days before the term was mentioned by former commission deputy chairman Chang Tien-chin (張天欽) during a meeting, Formosan Political Prisoners Association honorary director-general Tsai Kuan-yu (蔡寬裕) said.
The accusation that Chang had compared the commission to the Eastern Depot is out of context and far-fetched, he added.
Tsai said that whether to form a policy to discredit Chiang Kai-shek was “not something she or the commission could decide,” 1950s White Terror Victims’ Association president Lan Yun-juo (藍芸若) said.
Tsai might be right in saying that it was not her decision, but was mistaken about the commission’s remit, which was authorized by a law she signed, Lan said.
Tsai’s words were no different from disavowing the commission, which would hurt Taiwan’s democracy in the eyes of foreign observers, she said.
TSU director of social activity Ouyang Jui-lien (歐陽瑞蓮) called the bank’s remark that updating the legal tender would put a heavy financial burden on the nation “ridiculous,” considering that it has allocated a budget to mint more NT$10 coins for use in claw machines.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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