Crowds yesterday gathered at a memorial for late president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) set up by the Presidential Office at the Taipei Guest House to pay their last respects to Lee, who passed away at Taipei Veterans General Hospital on Thursday aged 97.
Control Yuan President Chen Chu (陳菊), Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), former Judicial Yuan president Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生), Democratic Progressive Party Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and former Research, Development and Evaluation Commission chairman Sun Te-hsiung (孫得雄) were among those who visited the memorial.
Chen Chu said what moved her most and was most memorable of him was when Lee, then aged 90, visited the Siaolin Village Memorial Park to pay his respects to the victims of Typhoon Morakot.
Photo: CNA
In a note she left on a message wall, Chen Chu asked Lee to “protect the land of Taiwan and guard the kind people.”
In their notes, Chen Shih-chung wrote that a “giant of an era” had passed away, while Cheng wrote “illuminate Taiwan, protect democracy.”
Cheng said that during the Wild Lily student movement, Lee was the main figure who spoke to the students, and promised to open Taiwan’s doors to democratization.
Photo: CNA
Lee played a crucial role in Taiwan’s transition from authoritarianism to democracy, he added.
Lin in his note wrote that he and people of his generation would fulfill Lee’s wish and bolster Taiwan’s democracy, develop the nation and make its people happy.
Sun, among the first batch of students Lee taught at National Taiwan University Department of Agricultural Economics, placed a handwritten letter in front of the late president’s photograph.
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who succeeded Lee in 2000, remembered him in a Facebook post.
He recalled how after the transfer of power on May 20, 2000, he personally saw Lee off.
“The sight of his back was a microcosm of Taiwanese spirit, culture and history,” he said. “Now the sight of the back of the old captain of Taiwan’s boat of democracy can no longer be seen again,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
‘OFFSHORE OPERATIONS’: Also in Dallas, Texas, the Ministry of Economic Affairs inaugurated its third Taiwan Trade and Investment Center to foster closer cooperation The 2025 Taiwan Expo USA opened on Thursday in Dallas, Texas, featuring 150 Taiwanese companies showcasing their latest technologies in the fields of drones, smart manufacturing and healthcare. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the event’s organizer, said the exhibitors this year include Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn), the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer; AUO; PC brand Asustek Computer; and drone maker Thunder Tiger. In his opening speech, TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃志芳) said he expected Texas to become a world-class center for innovation and manufacturing as US technology companies from Silicon Valley and Taiwanese manufacturers form an industrial cluster
A 20-year-old man yesterday evening was electrocuted and fell to his death after he climbed a seven-story-high electricity tower to photograph the sunset, causing a wildfire on Datong Mountain (大同山) in New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林), the Taoyuan Police Department said today. The man, surnamed Hsieh (謝), was accompanied on an evening walk by a 20-year-old woman surnamed Shang (尚) who remained on the ground and witnessed the incident, capturing a final photograph of her friend sitting atop the tower before his death, an initial investigation showed. Shang then sought higher ground to call for help, police said. The New Taipei
RSS