Several hundred family members of Communist Party members killed during the White Terror era gathered in Taipei’s Machangding Memorial Park (馬場町紀念公園) yesterday for a memorial service, calling for a peace agreement with China as part of transitional justice efforts to address the legacy of the Chinese Civil War.
Members of the Taiwan Area Political Victims Mutual Help Association stood for a moment of silence in front of a temporary memorial showing victims’ names and photographs before offering flowers and eulogies.
Numerous readings, songs and performances recalled the Chinese Civil War, including the Song of Rest, which was previously used by the Chinese Communist Party to eulogize alleged victims of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) oppression.
Some of those killed during the White Terror era were affiliated with the Communist Party, while preventing and uprooting communist infiltration were used by the KMT as a key justification for its tactics.
Machangding has historical significance as the site of a former execution ground where many White Terror era prisoners were shot.
While the Taiwan Area Political Victims Mutual Help Association traces its roots to the 1980s and has held annual memorial services since 1993, yesterday’s service was the first to feature calls for a peace agreement with China, in addition to calls for historical justice, association president Tsai Yu-jung (蔡裕榮) said, adding that the new emphasis was meant as a response to the Democratic Progressive Party’s assumption of power following January’s national elections.
“The sacrifices of the 1950s were a direct result of the civil war, which caused the administration of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to move to solidify its authority, while the US encouraged his oppression for the sake of maintaining an international front against communism,” he said, adding that many victims were inspired by dreams for peace and development in China and the “third world.”
“This truth has been suppressed for a long time to the point that it is no longer accepted by Taiwanese, but that is still what we believe,” he said.
“Transitional justice will only be realized if we ‘transition’ away from the state of civil war and move toward cross-strait peace,” he said. “Just talking about the oppressors without talking about cross-strait relations will only tear Taiwan apart.”
Yesterday’s memorial service was attended by Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅), but was otherwise bereft of political figures, with Tsai saying the Presidential Office also had not sent any representatives despite his group’s invitation.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS