President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Taiwanese society had endured decades of harsh martial law and that such “historic mistakes” should never be repeated.
“Taiwan had 38 years of martial law rule, during which its social and economic [development] ... was greatly impacted, and such harm has continued to affect today’s society,” Lai said, referring to the Martial Law period from 1949 to 1987.
The imposition of martial law — the second-longest ever imposed by a regime in history — largely coincided with the White Terror, an era of political repression in Taiwan by the one-party state Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government from 1949 to 1992.
Photo: CNA
We must “learn from the lessons” and “must never repeat the historic mistakes,” Lai said at an event at the Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park (景美白色恐佈紀念園區) in New Taipei City marking International Human Rights Day, which is observed annually on Dec. 10.
He pledged to continue promoting transitional justice, focusing on restoring the truth about past state wrongdoing and “help[ing] the public understand the nature of authoritarian rule.”
Upholding democracy, freedom and human rights has allowed Taiwan to build connections with other countries, he said, adding that “we must unite ourselves and collaborate to preserve” these values.
Lai’s remarks came days after a social media post by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus was accused of sympathizing with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s imposition of emergency martial law on Tuesday night.
The post repeated some of Yoon’s accusations and justifications behind the declaration, which sent shockwaves through South Korea and the world, including allegations that the South Korean parliament had been “manipulated by North Korean forces.”
The DPP post was deleted about 20 minutes after it was published and was replaced with another saying the previous one “only shared international information and compared it with the domestic political situation, and [the post] absolutely did not mean support for martial law.”
The KMT has criticized the statement and called on Lai, who chairs the DPP, to apologize and clarify his position.
However, the KMT also got into hot water when KMT Legislator Sra Kacaw in the legislature on Friday said that the KMT’s imposition of martial law in 1949 was meant to “protect Taiwan” from possible attacks by Chinese Communist Party forces.
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