Senior Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members yesterday gathered to commemorate the party’s founders and history at Taipei’s Grand Hotel, the birthplace of the party, one day ahead of its 34th anniversary.
Speaking at the event honoring the 135 founding members of the party, Legislative Yuan Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃), a facilitator in the establishment of the party and the event’s organizer, said that the gathering should have taken place in 2000 — when the DPP first assumed power and Taiwan saw its first change of government.
Apologizing for the overdue gathering, You said that he was happy to see the 49 “old comrades in arms” who showed up, but also sad that more than 44 late founding members could not be there.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Founded on Sept. 28, 1986, outside the Grand Hotel, the DPP was the first democratic party in the Chinese-speaking world, playing an essential role in forming Taiwan’s unique democratic process, You said.
Taiwan’s democratic institutions are a role model for the world, he added.
It was against the backdrop of severe political oppression of the Martial Law era that the party was formed, and credit for its success goes to all Taiwanese of the 1980s, he said, adding that he is proud to be a part of that generation.
Taiwan’s “dark political period” contained countless incidents of oppression, especially during the eight years preceding the party’s establishment, including assassinations and judicial persecution, he said.
People advocating democracy or attempting to form political parties at that time faced imprisonment, You said, citing the 1960 arrest of Lei Chen (雷震) and the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident.
A democracy pioneer, Chen was arrested on Sept. 4, 1960, charged with treason and sentenced to 10 years in prison for publishing a pro-democracy magazine.
The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, refers to a police crackdown, under the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, on a rally held by Formosa Magazine and opposition politicians on Dec. 10, 1979.
Although some have said that the DPP’s establishment was silently approved, or even orchestrated, by then-president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), You said that they are mistaken.
It was the founding members who really gave birth to the party, as they showed no fear and were willing to take the risk in signing the petition to form the party, despite the then-KMT regime, he said.
Although the original petition has been lost and some of the founding members remain unidentified, they should not be forgotten, You said, adding that he and his colleagues had spent months collecting materials and reviewing old footage to identify all of the signatories.
Participants at the event can help verify some of the names, You said.
Once completed, the list would become part of the DPP’s archives documenting the history of Taiwan’s democratic development, he added.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard