The government should increase pressure on Japan to offer compensation and apologies to Taiwanese “comfort women,” using the legal basis of the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例), former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.
Yesterday marked the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, when 50,000 Japanese Imperial Army soldiers entered the Chinese city after an eight-day defensive battle, Ma said, adding that it for six weeks indulged in systematic rape, pillage and raiding of the city.
More than 30,000 civilians were killed, one-third of the city was burned down and more than 10,000 women were raped, Ma added.
The incident was condemned by many nations and the Japanese government reacted by establishing “comfort women” centers to satisfy the sexual needs of its soldiers, Ma said.
Between 1937 and 1945, the Empire of Japan established more than 1,000 such centers, drafting women from Taiwan, China, Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia to become “comfort women,” using extortion, kidnapping and threats, Ma said.
There were 200,000 “comfort women” each from China and Korea, while between 1,200 and 2,000 were from Taiwan, Ma said, adding that more than 70 percent of these women perished on the battlefield.
The act seeks to address wrongs starting from Aug. 15, 1945, when former Japanese emperor Hirohito announced that the Empire of Japan accepted the terms of unconditional surrender as outlined in the Potsdam Declaration, Ma said.
However, the Japanese instrument of surrender was not signed aboard the USS Missouri until Sept. 2, and the Republic of China had not “reclaimed” Taiwan until Oct. 25 of that year, Ma said.
Between Aug. 15 and Oct. 25, Taiwan was still nominally under the rule of Japan and the government is obliged, as per the act, to aid Taiwanese “comfort women” in obtaining compensation and apologies from the Japanese government, he said.
The government is obligated by law to fight for the rights of the nation’s two surviving “comfort women,” Ma said, adding that he was certain the public would back any government action to see that these two women receive compensation and official apologies.
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
LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with
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