The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday held an event at the Grand Hotel in Taipei marking the 40th anniversary of the Formosa Incident, also known as the Kaohsiung Incident.
The event also commemorated former Formosa Magazine publisher and Taiwan democracy pioneer Huang Hsin-chieh (黃信介), who passed away 20 years ago.
Huang was a founder of the dangwai (黨外, “outside the party”) movement during the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) one-party rule, and made important contributions in moving Taiwan “from authoritarianism and toward democracy,” the DPP said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Huang’s brother, Huang Tien-fu (黃天福), attended the event.
The incident occurred when the magazine held a demonstration in Kaohsiung commemorating Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, 1979, in an effort to promote and demand democracy in Taiwan. Military police and soldiers intervened, leading to violence. Virtually all opposition figures in the nation were arrested following the incident.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊), who was arrested at the time, yesterday said the incident was “just a beginning.”
“Everyone must strive together” in the face of the challenges the nation still faces, she said.
She is grateful to the lawyers who defended her and other detainees at the time, and told their parents that being arrested over such a protest was “not something to be ashamed of,” Chen said.
The protesters must be recognized for their bravery, she said.
“Had nobody stood up for me, [former vice president] Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and former DPP chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德) at the time, who knows how Taiwan’s history would have been written?” Chen said.
Former DPP chairman Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), who also attended the event, said the demonstration and the ensuing crackdown was only part of the picture.
“The Formosa Incident involved organization, as well as demands and activities that all contributed to our strength. Without our peaceful methods, organization and demands at the time, we would not have Taiwan as it is today,” he said.
Former premier William Lai (賴清德) said at the event that as a democracy advocate from the younger generation, he acknowledges the contributions of those who fought for democracy during the incident, as well as the lawyers and people who stood up for them.
Taiwanese should stand together against the threats to the nation’s democracy and sovereignty from China, Lai said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
RSS