The government is continuing its transitional justice efforts and plans to enhance human rights protection in industrial supply chains, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said at a Human Rights Day ceremony yesterday.
In a speech at the National Human Rights Museum in Taipei, Tsai said that the government would continue to integrate and supervise its departments in pursuing transitional justice.
The Transitional Justice Commission was dissolved after it submitted its concluding report in May and accomplished its mission, she said, adding that the Cabinet held its first regular meeting for the promotion of transitional justice in September.
Photo: CNA
The government is planning to set up a reinstatement foundation, which would be responsible for returning property confiscated during the White Terror era and compensating victims targeted by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, she said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare would continue to provide services such as trauma therapy to the victims and their families, she said.
The Ministry of Education has drafted guidelines for transitional justice education, and along with the Ministry of Justice, it would promote human rights values in schools, allowing the concepts of transitional justice to take root among younger generations and in social educational institutes, to help Taiwanese learn from the past and avoid the mistakes of the White Terror era, she said.
As Taiwan plays a key role in the global trade, the government would continue efforts to protect human rights in industrial supply chains, Tsai said.
National Human Rights Commission Chairwoman Chen Chu (陳菊) is leading a delegation to France, where she signed a quadrilateral agreement with Paris, Tsai said.
Under the agreement, France is to select human rights experts to be stationed at the commission and assist it in implementing key tasks, such as gender equality and reinforcing democracy, she said.
At the ceremony, Tsai recognized Chang Chang-mei (張常美), a 91-year-old political victim who had been sentenced to 12 years for joining a “seditious” organization during the White Terror era.
The president thanked Chang for sharing her story.
“The democracy and freedom we have today is because past generations sacrificed their lives and freedom to push Taiwan’s democratization process forward,” Tsai said.
“Through continuous efforts to unearth the truth, we are constantly reminded to bravely face our history,” she said.
“The wounds and injustice from the past will not heal on their own over time,” Tsai said. “We pursue transitional justice because we believe that by remembering history and reflecting on it, it can help us avoid mistakes and bring about social solidarity, strengthen democracy and allow Taiwan to continue improving.”
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
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