Transitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠) yesterday vowed that the commission would propose legislation to deal with investigations into the perpetrators of White Terror atrocities and other human rights abuses of the past.
“After focusing on victims of political persecution in the early phase, the commission is now focusing on illegal actions by the government and oppression of victims [during the White Terror era], which will be followed by finding the perpetrators and determining their responsibility as part of the state apparatus,” Yang told a news conference in Taipei.
The White Terror era refers to the suppression of political dissidents following the 228 Incident, an uprising that began on Feb. 27, 1947, which was brutally suppressed by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The government subsequently imposed martial law, which was lifted on July 15, 1987.
The commission would draft bills on transitional justice to handle unjust decisions by government administrative offices in the past, she said.
This would be followed by drafting bills on dealing with symbols of authoritarianism and conferring with the Ministry of Culture on appropriate ways to transform the functions of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, she added.
The commission would present an official report next month about its overall plans and programs, including a summary from its investigations to inform the public, and a blueprint for action in the next phase, she said.
The commission plans to continue caring for and compensating victims of political persecution and their families, propose a draft bill on restoring the rights of victims who had suffered during the authoritarian regime, and provide medical care and therapy for the victims and their families, she said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
RSS