DPP legislative whip Chang Chun-hung's (
At a press conference called by former mayor of Hsinchu Tsai Jen-chien (
But instead, Chang burst into tears as he criticized the media for abusing press freedom.
"Seeing the media abuse freedom of the press to this extent, I'd rather go back to my home in Chinmei [referring to a prison for political prisoners] where there are iron bars to protect me," said the 64-year-old native son in a rare Beijing accent.
Chang added that the media should not play God or jump to conclusions before any legal case is closed or when a case is in legal proceedings.
Dubbed the party's "theory master" by the media, Chung is the only sitting DPP lawmaker of the "Formosa generation" (
When opposition parties were still outlawed during the martial law era, the "Formosa generation" built a political movement around Formosa magazine and helped push Taiwan toward democracy and away from authoritarian rule.
On Dec. 10, 1979, a state crackdown followed an anti-government parade in Kaohsiung that was organized by the magazine. The ruling KMT jailed eight people for their involvement in what later became known as the Kaohsiung Incident (
The Kaohsiung Eight include Chang, Vice President Annette Lu (
Shortly after Chang was released from jail in 1989, the DPP was legalized. He joined the party and became the party's secretary-general.
Because of different ideals, Chang formed a party faction called Formosa, which later split into the New Era Institute and New Dynamic factions.
With a master's in political science from National Taiwan University, Chung was first a KMT member for 14 years and worked at the KMT headquarters for four years.
When the KMT was about to expel Chang because of the pro-democracy theory he advocated in the magazine he served as the editor, Chang withdrew from the party and joined yet another liberal magazine called Taiwan Politics.
The magazine, however, was short-lived. Financially desperate, Chang and his former wife, incumbent DPP lawmaker Hsu Jung-shu (
Six months into the business, the eatery went bust. The couple then moved back to Chang's hometown in Nantou County where Chang made a comeback in his political career.
In 1977, Chang announced his bid to run in the provincial councilor elections and won thanks to the KMT candidate's botched campaign strategy.
But just two years later, Chang and the seven other activists were thrown into jail.
In the meantime, Hsu was elected to the legislature and was in and out of the political limelight.
Lee Wen-chung (
"He [Chang] has inspired me to be a politician," Lee said. "I started to read his books and Taiwan Politics when I was in high school."
Lee said that Chang has a legitimate reason to feel disappointed with today's media.
"As a journalist during the White Terror era, he had to pay a high price for press freedom. Media nowadays, however, tread on the press freedoms strenuously fought for by their forerunners."
Lee described Chang as a "discontented intellectual" and the "role model of all intellectuals of the 1970s."
Another DPP legislator, Chen Zau-nan (
"During the KMT-ruling era, the media saw a suspect as a culprit and a culprit as a convict. The situation has improved little although the DPP has come to power," Chen said.
Chang's emotional appeal deserves the attention of both the media and the public, Chen said.
Chen, who has been Chang's friend and colleague with Chang for over a decade, described Chang as a "thinker" and a "straightforward individual."
"He dares to speak out and cares little about the consequences," he said. "Unlike some party members who prefer drastic measures, Chang worships moderation and peace."
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
BIG YEAR: The company said it would also release its A12 chip the same year to keep a ‘reliable stream of new silicon technologies’ flowing to its customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its newest A13 chip is to enter volume production in 2029 as the chipmaker seeks to hold onto its tech leadership and demand for next-generation chips used in artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and mobile applications. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, also unveiled its A12 chip at its annual technology symposium in Santa Clara, California. The A12 chip, which features TSMC’s super-power-rail technology to provide backside power delivery for AI and HPC applications, is also to enter volume production in 2029, a year after the scheduled release of the A14 chip. The technology moves
RSS