President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday apologized for the bad treatment of democracy pioneers by the previous Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime and promised to continue efforts to unveil the truth behind past tragedies.
Ma was addressing the inauguration of a memorial center paying tribute to activist Lei Chen (雷震), who was accused of sedition and sentenced to 10 years in prison for publishing a magazine trumpeting democracy in 1960.
The memorial hall and research center were established to honor him on the 33rd anniversary of his death.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Ma said the establishment of the center at National Chengchi University was of great significance, because the university used to be a school for the KMT.
“[The KMT] owes Lei Chen an apology and as president and KMT chairman, I offer my apology to let people know that the government is willing to face history and correct past mistakes with honesty,” Ma said.
The president stressed the government’s efforts to compensate victims of the 228 Massacre and White Terror era as it uncovers the truth, and promised to carry out measures related to transitional justice.
“The nation paid a price during the 228 Massacre and White Terror era and the protection of human rights will be a major topic for the nation’s future development,” he said.
Lei, a KMT member, had been charged by the KMT authorities with sedition for publishing the opposition Free China (自由中國) magazine and launching the China Democratic Party.
He passed away in 1979 at the age of 81.
In 1998, then-Taipei mayor Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) began seeking national compensation for Lei on his behalf and honored him as a pioneer of democracy after the DPP came into office in 2000.
Former premier Yu Shyi-kun and Lei’s daughter, Lei Mei-lin (雷美琳), also attended the ceremony yesterday.
Lei Mei-lin said the family had chosen to forgive the KMT in the name of social harmony.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
Taiwan’s Li Yu-hsiang performs in the men’s singles figure skating short program at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. Li finished 24th with a score of 72.41 to advance to Saturday’s free skate portion of the event. He is the first Taiwanese to qualify for the free skate of men’s singles figure skating at the Olympics since David Liu in 1992.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
RSS