A memorial in honor of democracy advocate Chen Wen-chen (陳文成) was officially inaugurated yesterday, as dignitaries and family members commemorated the mathematician who died under mysterious circumstances during the White Terror era.
Chen, an assistant professor of mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University, was visiting family in Taiwan when he was found dead near a library at National Taiwan University (NTU) on July 3, 1981.
A day earlier, the 31-year-old had been detained and interrogated by the Taiwan Garrison Command, a state security force that has since been disbanded.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Chen’s brother-in-law, Tai Hsien-ming (戴憲明), opened the dedication of the Dr Chen Wen-chen Incident Memorial Square (陳文成事件紀念廣場) at NTU with a violin performance, followed by remarks by university president Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔).
“The life of this innocent man stopped on this patch of lawn, causing his family forever irreconcilable grief,” Kuan said. “But it shocked people to their core, awakening Taiwanese to the pursuit of human rights, democracy and freedom.”
The memorial not only mourns the NTU alumnus, but also serves as a reminder of the other heroes who fought for Taiwan’s future, he said, calling for timely clarification of the truth so that the departed could be afforded peace.
Kuan also extended the school’s thanks to the Dr Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation, students and everyone who donated to create the memorial.
Foundation chairwoman Yang Huang Maysing (楊黃美幸) in her remarks gave historical context to the memorial.
“Today is a witness to history,” she said. “Forty years ago, Dr Chen Wen-chen fell on this spot.”
In 1984, Chen’s father traveled across the US to raise awareness of his son’s death, giving 135 talks and wearing a placard that read: “Give me the truth. Give me my son,” Yang said.
However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) obstructed the truth, even banning foundations from using Chen’s name until 2000, she said, urging the party to face its past sins, as well as publicly apologize and offer compensation to Chen’s family.
“Our history praises [then-president] Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) as the driver of democracy,” she said. “This is the greatest insult to common sense.”
Today, even when facing intimidation by the Chinese Communist Party, Taiwanese are not afraid, because they believe “where there is a will, there is a way,” she added.
To those who doubt the circumstances surrounding Chen’s death, Tai presented a photograph of his brother-in-law, saying: “He is so bright, so confident; how could he have come here and committed suicide? You must be critical of authoritarian propaganda.”
NTU Students’ Association president Yang Tzu-ang (楊子昂) said that the memorial was designed around the concept of “emptiness” to represent the opacity of historical truth, and the blank terror of prison cells and interrogation rooms.
“Outsiders cannot see what insiders do,” Yang Tzu-ang said.
She also thanked generations of students for taking up the mantle after 10 years of rejection and stalemates with conservative school administrations.
The foundation in 2011 sent a letter to the NTU president requesting the creation of a memorial, but never received a response.
A year later, a student representative brought it up at a school affairs meeting, but the president at the time transferred the matter to the Gallery of NTU History.
The proposal finally passed in 2014 and a design competition began in 2016.
However, just as construction was set to begin in 2019, the newly instated Kuan rescinded the school’s promise to shoulder half of the cost and stopped soliciting donations, saying that he would be criticized either way as it is a sensitive political topic.
The foundation, student association and mathematics department rushed to reach the fundraising target on their own, raising NT$11 million (US$387,501) in only three months.
A donation agreement was inked with NTU, which provided NT$1 million, in February last year and construction began in July.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting