Democracy advocate Chen Wen-cheng (陳文成) was commemorated at an event at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) campus where he was found dead, with Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) reiterating the government’s goal to achieve transitional justice.
Chen, a US-based mathematics professor, was found dead on May 20, 1981, during a visit to Taiwan.
The then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government claimed Chen committed suicide out of fear of being convicted for his involvement in pro-democracy movements, while his family and friends said he was murdered by the KMT government.
The event, where songs were played in tribute to Chen, was attended by dozens of students and academics.
Chen supported democracy and human rights movements, and made financial contributions to Formosa Magazine, a dissident publication.
The event was first organized in 2011 to mark the 30th anniversary of Chen’s death. Following years of petitioning by NTU students, a monument is to be constructed on the campus in his memory.
Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said Chen’s murder is still a mystery and sufficient efforts have not been made to solve the murders of Chen and People Rule Foundation founder Lin I-hsiung’s (林義雄) mother and twin daughters in 1980.
“If our generation continues to ignore stories of the victimizations or trauma of the White Terror era and choose to worship dictators, how can we convince the generations to come?” Cheng said.
“There are differences in understanding the history, but we cannot forget that victimization is a common experience across political and ethnic divisions,” she said.
A draft act to establish a human rights museum is expected to pass this year to mark the 30th anniversary of the lifting of martial law, and efforts would be made to identify and commemorate historic sites where political persecution took place, Cheng said.
The government would also push to repurpose the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei as part of efforts to achieve transitional justice, Cheng added.
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