National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday approved a proposal to inscribe a fence at Dr Chen Wen-chen Incident Memorial Square (陳文成事件紀念廣場) with the text: “In memoriam of a hero who unyieldingly resisted state violence.”
Student representatives brought the measure to a vote at a virtual meeting of university decisionmakers before it was passed 74 to 64.
Chen, an assistant professor of mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was visiting family in Taiwan when he was found dead near a library at NTU on July 3, 1981.
A day earlier, the 31-year-old had been detained and interrogated by the Taiwan Garrison Command, a state security force that has since been disbanded.
NTU in 2015 dedicated the square to Chen’s memory and construction was completed this year.
No text was included after faculty members disagreed about what it should say.
An explanatory text must be added if the square is to serve the stated purpose of furthering democratic education and promoting the values of human rights, the students said in the proposal.
NTU professor of Chou Wan-yao (周婉窈) told the meeting that the harm inflicted on Chen and his family must be acknowledged and explained for posterity.
The authorities at the time claimed that Chen killed himself out of guilt, Chou said.
Following declassification of state archives, researchers say that murder at the hands of state security services is the best explanation for Chen’s death, she said, citing a report last year by the Transitional Justice Commission.
Although some expressed misgivings about the text’s reference to “state violence,” the phrase is necessary to contextualize human rights education and make clear that democracy is not produced spontaneously, but from resistance and strife, Chou said.
Several professors opposed the text, citing a need to maintain “tranquility on campus,” but were outvoted.
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