President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday praised Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水) as “a great man of Taiwan,” saying that studying the life and time of the democracy trailblazer was a good way to help promote Taiwanese identity.
Addressing the first annual conference on Chiang at National Chengchi University, Ma said Chiang had made many contributions to Taiwan.
“A lot of people talk about how to promote Taiwanese identity and win respect from the international community,” he said. “One way to do it is to study Chiang Wei-shui.”
Describing Chiang as a “legend,” Ma said Chiang’s reputation derived from his talents and love for Taiwan.
He hoped that learning about Chiang would become an important part of education.
Yesterday’s speech was Ma’s second time to attend activities to promote Chiang since he took office in May. He paid tribute to Chiang on the 77th anniversary of Chiang’s death early last month.
Chiang, who founded the nation’s first political party, the Taiwan People’s Party (台灣民眾黨), formed the Taiwan Culture Association (台灣文化協會) with a group of intellectuals in October 1921. Its aim was to awaken Taiwanese consciousness through cultural enlightenment. Chiang was imprisoned more than 10 times for defying orders from the Japanese regime. He died of typhoid in 1931, at the age of 40.
The president said yesterday that Chiang enlightened Taiwanese society with his words, actions and publications.
Despite his vast impact on the country, there are few in-depth studies on Chiang, Ma said.
“I believe it has a lot to do with politics,” he said.
After he took over the helm of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Ma said he thought it was time to apologize to Chiang Wei-shui and his family for the injustice he suffered.
During his term as KMT chairman, Ma said he hung framed portraits of Chiang Wei-shui and anti-Japanese hero Li You-pang (李友邦) on the outside wall of the party headquarters. The move, however, drew criticism from Tokyo that he was anti-Japan.
“But I am not anti-Japan,” he said.
“I just tried to highlight the relationship between the KMT and Taiwan during that period of history when Chiang was one of the key figures,” Ma said.
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