The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) yesterday released its first report, clearing pioneer democracy advocate and former Taipei City councilor Lin Shui-chuan (林水泉), who was imprisoned by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Lin’s case was chosen for the commission’s first investigation, as it was among the most prominent cases of political persecution during the White Terror era, the NHRC said.
NHRC Chairwoman Chen Chu (陳菊) said Lin ran as an independent candidate for Taipei City councilor in 1960, but in 1961 the KMT branded him a “hoodlum,” and imprisoned him without due judicial process.
Photo courtesy of the National Human Rights Commission via CNA
Lin had the courage to criticize the KMT government for supressing people’s rights, Chen said. “What happened to Lin epitomized the many other cases of human rights abuse during the KMT’s authoritarian control of Taiwan.”
“The injustices and atrocities committed in the past have caused pain and suffering for the victims,” Chen said, adding that cases such as Lin’s are evidence of an authoritarian regime abusing its power, and can be used to educate future generations about human rights.
Lin was among the early leaders of the dangwai (黨外, “outside the party”) movement and lost the municipal election in 1960. The Taiwan Garrison Command arrested him as a hoodlum in 1961, and Lin was jailed on Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) for just under two years.
After his release, Lin shocked the KMT by winning the Taipei City councilor race in 1964, but could not finish his term, due to a government crackdown in 1967, in which many dangwai figures were arrested.
In a military court ruling, Lin and his associates were found guilty of subversion. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, which was later reduced to 10 years.
Lin fought for justice for years. He received compensation and the charge of subversion was overturned, but until now, government agencies had rejected his petition to clear his name of being a hoodlum.
The NHRC’s investigation was completed in April, and Lin had been informed of its findings, but the report was not released due to a local COVID-19 outbreak.
Lin, now living in the US, spoke to the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday.
He said that although the decision had taken 60 years, “I am glad that the current government has cleared my good name.”
“I never killed anyone, did not assault people, was not violent and did not do anything criminal, so I was never a hoodlum,” he said. “It was political persecution by the KMT government, because I ran in elections and won a councilor seat. While campaigning, I advocated for democracy and freedom for Taiwanese, and revealed to the public the KMT’s dictatorship and suppression of civil liberties.”
“The report and having my name cleared can never make up for the physical and mental suffering caused by the agents of the KMT regime,” he said.
Asked about his experience, he said: “Yes, I was tortured and beaten by the Taiwan Garrison Command, who forced confessions from political dissidents... What could you do at the time? KMT troops and police controlled the government and the whole society.”
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
RSS