Thirty years after military police clashed with supporters of the democracy movement in Kaohsiung, the event still evoked strong emotions and memories in academics, witnesses and political leaders yesterday at a forum held to mark the protest known as the “Kaohsiung Incident.”
Lee Shiao-feng (李筱峰), a professor at National Taipei University of Education’s Graduate School of Taiwan Culture and a long-time pro-independence activist, recounted his experience as a participant in the Incident, saying the streets were filled with protesters eager to see political change and an end to authoritarian rule.
“It wasn’t a single Incident — it was the culmination of 20 to 30 years of the pro-democracy movement,” Lee told the forum in Taipei. “The people rebelled against an authoritarian government ... the more [protesters] the [government] arrested, the more people came out to support [the protest].”
The Incident started when the pro-democracy Formosa Magazine (美麗島雜誌) held a demonstration commemorating International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, 1979, in Kaohsiung, calling on then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government to respect human rights and demanding democracy. Within hours, the protesters were surrounded by scores of military police, while prominent leaders of the democracy movement were arrested.
Of the 51 arrests made, eight, including Shih Ming-teh (施明德), Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and Chen Chu (陳菊), were tried in a military court and received sentences ranging from 12 years to life imprisonment. The remaining 43 were tried in civilian courts and received two to seven-year sentences.
At the forum yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) praised the protesters for their dedication and sacrifice in leading the nation to a democratic transition.
“In the 30 years since the Incident, many things have changed ... but their dedication to our nation and its democracy has not,” Tsai said. “Their sacrifices have allowed us as a society to develop and increased our own recognition of this country.”
She said that it was because of the dissidents that pressure grew on the government to eventually lift martial law and lift the bans on independent political parties and media, which led to the country’s democratization.
Tsai is one of the few people to have held the chair of the DPP without having been either a defendant or lawyer involved in the Incident.
Other participants in the Incident, such as defense lawyers Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) went on to become president and premier respectively, while defendant Annette Lu, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison, later became vice president.
“Thirty years ago, we gathered to let the KMT know that we wanted the fate of our nation to be decided by us, the Taiwanese ... we wanted change and expressed it through a popular movement,” Lu said, adding that “the lessons of that day are every bit as important today.”
The Kaohsiung City Government is planning a series of activities to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident to be held until Dec. 20, including seminars on human rights, a photo exhibition, a concert and a party.
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