The plaque on a museum dedicated to Taiwanese “comfort women,” who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, was unveiled on Tuesday, International Women’s Day.
It was a momentous day in the history of the women’s rights movement in Taiwan, Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation chairwoman Huang Shu-ling (黃淑玲) said.
After more than a decade, the foundation has realized its dream of establishing a museum in memory of Taiwanese comfort women, Huang said at a ceremony in Taipei, which was attended by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chen Lien-hua (陳蓮花), a former comfort woman.
Photo: CNA
The Ama Museum promotes peace and human rights, Ma said, adding that it opens a new chapter in the history of Taiwanese comfort women.
That part of history must be preserved not for revenge, but to reveal the truth and remember the lessons of the war, Ma said, urging Japan to do more in dealing with the issue of comfort women.
Chen, 92, said she was grateful to see the establishment of the museum.
She is one of three surviving Taiwanese comfort women who have spoken openly about their suffering during the war.
In response to questions about Japan’s handling of the issue, she said that the Japanese government has not responded to their demands, adding that she feared that she might not live long enough to see the day when Japan issues a formal apology and offers compensation.
“Ama” means “grandmother” in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese). The foundation calls former comfort women “ama,” as most of them are in their late 80s or early 90s.
The foundation said it hopes that the museum would become a home for comfort women and a place where they would always be remembered. One of the goals of the foundation is to inform future generations about the history of comfort women and women’s rights, it added.
Housed in a two-story building and covering 150 ping (496m2), the museum is to feature a permanent exhibition on Taiwanese comfort women, displaying photographs, documents and videos related to them, as well as the exchanges over the past two decades between foundation members and Taiwanese comfort women, the foundation said.
In addition to the exhibition, the foundation is to organize workshops and seminars at the museum on topics such as human rights and sexual abuse, it added.
The museum is located in a renovated building in Taipei’s historic Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area and its formal opening is scheduled to take place in September, the foundation said.
The opening is to mark the foundation’s 25 years of efforts in helping comfort women cope with their mental anguish and seek justice and compensation from Japan. Over the past two decades, it has collected many first-hand accounts since it began interviewing the women, the foundation said.
More than 2,000 Taiwanese women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during the war, according to the foundation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
A senior US senator on Monday questioned the willingness of some US allies to help defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. Although Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) expects the US and Japan to respond in a war in the Taiwan Strait, he was “a little less confident what our other allies would do,” US Senator John Cornyn said. Australia and New Zealand have voiced support for Taiwan, but it “is a far cry from committing troops to repel an invasion,” Cornyn said during a discussion on China, Russia and the state of US military readiness at a forum hosted
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the
RSS