A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator is asking the government to make public its official records pertaining to the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident, saying the public deserves a better understanding of the brutal police crackdown.
On Dec. 10, 1979, tens of thousands of pro-democracy activists were surrounded by military police and dispersed using tear gas during a human rights march in Kaohsiung. Prominent leaders of the movement were arrested, charged with sedition and tried in military courts.
The legal team that defended the activists, the latter of which included former DPP chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德) and former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), later formed the core of a new democracy movement and were some of the founding members of the main opposition party. Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), a young lawyer at the time, would later become president.
PHOTO: CNA
DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) yesterday said any efforts to commemorate the movement would be incomplete if it did not include an official government account of the crackdown. She said many questions remained unresolved, including the unsolved murder of former DPP chairperson Lin I-hsiung’s (林義雄) family following the crackdown.
The Council of Cultural Affairs is expected to spend about NT$2.5 million (US$78,772) on building a showcase for historical documents relating to the Kaohsiung Incident as part of its larger exhibition on the incident. In addition, it is set to spend NT$950,000 on an investigation of such documents.
However, Chen Chia-chun (陳嘉君), Shih’s wife, yesterday held up dozens of letters bearing personal accounts that would be part of the showcase, saying none were from government officials or could help form an official account of the decision-making process during the crackdown.
She accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of playing a key role in the refusal to release the documents, citing his sensitive role in the crackdown. At the time, Ma was deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration.
“Only through these documents can the truth behind our history be revealed. These files are the key to our past,” Chen said.
Huang Hui-chun (黃惠君), executive director of the New Taiwan Foundation who is studying the Kaohsiung Incident, said the only piece of the puzzle still missing in the investigation into the crackdown was the official account.
A council official said that while the agency would continue its investigation into the missing documents, it could not make any promises.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS