Newly available Taiwan Garrison Command wiretapping files have revealed new information about the case of Chen Wen-chen (陳文成), a Carnegie Mellon University assistant professor who was killed in July 1981 during a visit to Taiwan, the Transitional Justice Commission said on Wednesday.
Wiretapping conducted as part of the command’s Project Rainbow monitored individuals affiliated, or believed to be affiliated, with the dangwai (黨外, “outside the party”) movement, referring to people critical of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration during the White Terror era.
Many of the files available for the first time proved that the command had been monitoring Chen’s family, interfering with investigations and preventing Chen’s family from speaking out after his death, the commission said in Facebook post.
Chen’s body was found outside the library on the campus of National Taiwan University in Taipei on the morning of July 3, 1981, after he had been taken in for questioning by three Taiwan Garrison Command agents the day before.
The command’s statements on the incident were unclear until its then-commander, Wang Ching-hsu (汪敬煦), on July 8, 1981, confirmed that the questioning of Chen was connected to Formosa Magazine.
Despite Wang’s comments, the wiretapping transcripts were not part of the official investigation into Chen’s death.
The commission obtained them in the sixth allotment of archived files from the National Archives Administration.
The first recording involving Chen was of a conversation between him and democracy activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) on Sept 30, 1979, in which the command called him “Mr Chen in Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania],” as it did not know who he was, the commission said.
Chen told Shih about plans to start a foundation in the US, as well as a pledge of US$1,500 per month to Formosa Magazine, which would be delivered through contacts in Cincinnati, Ohio, the transcripts showed.
Shih said that he had not yet received the funds, and explained that the magazine was establishing more offices in Taiwan as well as how its first issue was selling, the commission said.
The command determined Chen’s identity after monitoring a later conversation between him and his father, the commission said.
Although that conversation was mostly innocuous, the command decided, based on his call with Shih, that Chen was “an evident traitor.”
The report eventually reached Wang, showing that the command knew of Chen’s return to Taiwan in May 1981 with his wife and young son, and that it had asked the Bureau of Entry and Exit to delay issuing a departure clearance for him in July, the commission said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS