President Chen Shui-bian (
"We know the wounds caused by the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) half-century authoritarian rule and the 38-year Martial Law era it imposed will not heal in our generation, but we pledge to do our best to prevent a comeback of anti-reform, anti-democracy and anti-Taiwan forces," Chen said.
Chen made the remarks at an academic symposium on human rights and political issues.
Since its coming to power in 2000, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been active in granting compensation to victims of the White Terror era and redressing miscarriages of justices. Chen said, however, that doing so has not led to more unity and harmony within the nation.
"This is because we haven't brought the oppressors to justice. Until that is achieved, there will be no reconciliation, let alone forgiveness, because there has been no truth," he said.
Chen said the DPP administration's efforts over the past year to rename public establishments making references to dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) were the first step toward ending the cult of personality that emerged during the single party regime.
Chen said the Cabinet's renaming Chiang Kai-shek International Airport Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall were examples of that policy.
The Cabinet also abolished the commemoration days marking Chiang's birth and passing -- Oct. 31 and April 5 respectively -- and will soon renovate the memorial hall's portals to replace inscription alluding to Chiang's name with the new heading "Freedom Plaza," he said.
Chen said Taiwan must stick to the reforms to help the nation "emerge from the shadows and shackles of martial law and become a truly free, normal and complete democracy."
Chen then defended the plan to replace the inscription dazhong zhizheng (大中至正) at the entry arch at National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall with "Liberty Square" (自由廣場).
"[Chiang] was a dictator whose hands were full of the blood of Taiwanese people. Only when we stop worshipping him can we become a normal and democratic country," he said.
Tsai Tsing-yen (蔡清彥), president of the Foundation for Compensation for Improper Trials During the Martial Law Era, said that as of last month 8,696 individuals had filed requests for name clearance.
Data from the Ministry of Justice showed that 3,000 to 8,000 people were executed following the 228 Incident, a military crackdown on civilian protests that started on Feb. 28, 1947. Other statistics showed that the former government cancelled the registrations of 126,875 people whose whereabouts were unknown as of 1960, Chen said.
At the symposium, Christian Schafferer, an Austrian at the Overseas Chinese Institute of Technology in Taiwan, presented a paper on the perception of transitional justice in Taiwan.
"The KMT rule of Taiwan is known to the world as a period of great economic achievement. However, few are willing to accept that the KMT government was involved in the widespread and systematic torture and killings of tens of thousands of civilians," he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Two people were killed and another nine injured yesterday after being stung by hornets while hiking in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), with officials warning against wearing perfume or straying from trails during the autumn to avoid the potentially deadly creatures. Seven of the hikers only sustained minor injuries after being stung along the Bafenliao Hiking Trail (八分寮) and made their way down the mountain with a guide, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. Four of them — all male — sustained more serious injuries and were assisted when leaving the mountain, the department said. Two of them, a man surnamed
Recent movements by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been “highly unusual,” but the military maintains a grasp of the situation, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said on Friday, after the military for the first time said it was monitoring troop movements in China’s Dacheng Bay (大埕灣). The minister gave the remarks to reporters before appearing at the legislature on the first day of its new session. The Ministry of National Defense on Thursday evening released an air force surveillance photograph of a PLA Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, and said it was monitoring the PLA Rocket Force and ground
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
RSS