The former director of the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum (
Iap Phok-bun (
"Lung's false comments have seriously tainted my reputation and that of the Peace Foundation, which was built up through years of hard work," Iap said.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Iap was referring to remarks Lung made last year, when she accused Iap of using the name of the memorial museum to seek funds for the Peace Foundation.
"What she said was not true," said Iap. "She owes an apology to me and the staff members of the foundation and the former staff members of the memorial museum who were implicated."
In response, Lung called for a halt to all disputes concerning the 228 Memorial Day.
"Why is it that, every year before Feb. 28th, there is always some kind of complication with regard to the 228 issue?"
Damon Deng (鄧宗德), a spokesman for the Bureau of Cultural Affairs, said it is true that the Taiwan Peace Foundation was involved in financial irregularities during its management of the memorial museum.
"There was a time that the foundation was soliciting funds by handing out brochures printed with the name of the 288 Memorial Museum on it," he said.
Iap's lawsuit yesterday added to the year-long battle between the city's Bureau of Cultural Affairs and the Taiwan Peace Foundation, a private institution that was founded in 1997 to manage the memorial museum when it was first established.
The 228 Memorial Museum was established to commemorate a bloody crackdown, committed by KMT troops, against ethnic Taiwanese on Feb. 28, 1947.
Last year, the city's Bureau of Cultural Affairs, the museum's caretaker, took the foundation to the Taipei District Court over the foundation's financial management of the museum.
Lung then accused the foundation of financial irregularities and refused to award the foundation another contract when its previous contract terminated in February 2000.
The Taipei District Court has set March 18 as the next date when the case -- that was filed by the bureau last July -- will be heard.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS