Supermarket chain operator Pxmart yesterday announced that it has pulled an advertisement that netizens made references to the death of Carnegie Mellon University associate professor Chen Wen-chen (陳文成) incident.
Chen was detained by the Taiwan Garrison Command for interrogation on July 2, 1981, during a visit to Taipei because of his support for the pro-democracy movement.
The next morning, Chen’s body was discovered next to the library at National Taiwan University (NTU).
Photo: Screen grab from Facebook
An official report initially said that he had committed suicide, but his family and friends maintain that he was killed by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.
In the ad, a man is shown giving an interview, but he has no reflection in the mirror and the mirror showed the year 70 in the Republican calendar, or 1981 in the Gregorian calendar, when Chen was found dead, a netizen said.
The actor also looks like Chen, and information on his Facebook and Instagram profiles show that he was born in 1950 and studied at NTU from 1968 to 1972, mirroring Chen’s background, the netizen said.
Any connection between the incident and the ad was unintentional, Pxmart said in a statement, adding that the ad was meant to urge people to revere their ancestors.
The ad did not intend to portray certain individuals, the company said, adding that it hopes the public will not read too much into it.
Chen Wen-chen Foundation director Chang Lung-chiao (張龍僑) said Chen’s family had no comments on the ad.
The ad could help more people learn about Chen’s death and is positive for the foundation, Chang said.
In related news, Transitional Justice Commission deputy chairman Chang Tien-chin (張天欽) told the Central News Agency that the commission has requested the Taiwan High Court’s files on Chen, including those about the 2009 investigation into the incident under then-president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.
Chang said the commission is going through the material, which “offers us a direction,” adding that he was not at liberty talk about an ongoing investigation.
There has been no official conclusion to the Chen incident.
A Control Yuan investigation in 1981 showed that there was “very little probability” of suicide.
“After being emotional for 20 hours consecutively, he was exhausted both mentally and physically, leading to a momentary lapse in concentration that caused him to slip on the fire escape,” it said of Chen’s death.
Cyril Wecht, a US forensic pathologist, who investigated Chen’s death, said it was a homicide and not suicide.
Additional reporting by CNA
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