The son of a White Terror-era victim, speaking at a memorial event yesterday, said he hoped that Taiwanese would speak up about the era and not forget the previous generation’s sacrifices.
The annual event — which normally takes place the day before the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday and commemorates victims of political persecution — was delayed by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Liao Chih-ping (廖至平), said he was only four years old when his father, Liao Jui-fa (廖瑞發), was arrested during the White Terror era.
Photo provided by the National Human Rights Museum via CNA
“The only image of my father I have in my mind is that of his picture, which was next to his urn in our family living room,” he said.
His family were affected by the accusations leveled against his father even after his father’s death, Liao said, adding that he and other family members were never permitted to talk about his father.
The first time he heard his father being discussed was when his older sister was interviewed last month about the events surrounding their father’s death, he said.
During the interview, his sister talked about going with their mother to identify their father’s body, he said.
Taipei’s National Human Rights Museum invited members of the Taiwan Association for the Care of the Victims of Political Persecution during the Martial Law Period and other non-profit groups yesterday to commemorate family members who were victims of political persecution, and to share their families’ experiences.
Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict with the memorial service of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), but met with the group’s members on Friday and offered his condolences.
Lee said he hoped that the museum would continue its work of uncovering facts about the authoritarian era, and teaching the public about what it finds, so that the era would not be forgotten and history would not be repeated.
Deputy Minister of Culture Kevin Peng (彭俊亨) yesterday said the White Terror era had not only made victims of the roughly 7,000 people whose names are inscribed on the plaque at Taipei’s Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park; it also resulted in the destruction of many households.
“Nobody who lived through this history can count themselves as unaffected by it,” he said.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
RSS