The Transitional Justice Commission yesterday posthumously exonerated five prison inmates who were executed after the 1970 Taiyuan Prison Insurrection.
The five Taiwan independence advocates, held at the prison in Taitung County, seized weapons and broke out of the facility, but were later captured.
They hoped to lead an uprising against the nation’s military dictatorship and proclaim independence, said Kao Chin-lang (高金郎), who was a political prisoner in Taiyuan Prison at the time of the insurrection
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Kao has for several years organized events to commemorate the five inmates — Cheng Chin-ho (鄭金河), Chiang Ping-hsing (江炳興), Chen Liang (陳良), Chan Tien-tseng (詹天增) and Hsieh Tung-jung (謝東榮) — who were executed on May 30, 1970, after a short military trial.
A sixth prisoner, Cheng Cheng-cheng (鄭正成), who was involved in the insurrection, evaded being executed as the five claimed he had been their hostage.
The commission yesterday exonerated the five of all criminal charges.
Chiang’s younger sister, Chiang Yueh-wei (江月瑋), broke down in tears following the announcement of his exoneration at a news conference held by the commission in Taipei.
“Our whole family is honored by my uncle’s sacrifice,” Chiang Yueh-wei’s son said.
Former political prisoner Tsai Kuan-yu (蔡寬裕) thanked the commission for the exonerations, calling it the “return of justice to Taiwanese society.”
The commission said that the five saved several fellow prisoners who were involved in planning the insurrection by refusing to reveal their names.
“The ruling in this insurrection case was based on then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) will — it was a breach of the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary and the constitutional rights of these men,” the commission said.
Their actions were at the time determined to contravene Article 100 of the Criminal Code — sanctioning sedition — which resulted in the revocation of their rights and freedoms, including their right to resist and to express their political views, it said.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS