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.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from