Senior Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members gathered in Taipei yesterday to launch a book on the party’s early history.
The launch of photographer Chiu Wan-hsing’s (邱萬興) Taiwan’s Defiant Years: The Rise of the DPP 1986-1987 (台灣關鍵年代 : 民進黨的誕生 1986-1987) was part of a series of activities to mark the 35th anniversary of the party’s founding on Sept. 28, 1986, at the Grand Hotel Taipei.
“We must never forget the DPP’s original spirit and the party’s founding principles. Taiwanese have much expectation for the DPP, and we must remember this responsibility,” President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is the DPP’s chairperson, said in her keynote address.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Chiu has for years been associated with the DPP, donating many photographs, early DPP publications and election pamphlets to the party for the establishment of a museum celebrating the the DPP’s history.
Several DPP founding members attended the event, including Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃), former Taipei county commissioner You Ching (尤清) and former DPP chairman Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文).
Those who were present at the DPP’s founding event recalled the tense atmosphere as many feared that then-president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), who was also the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman at the time, might order security forces to crack down on the newly founded party.
There were rumors that opposition leaders would be arrested, they said.
You Ching said that he made calls to foreign news organizations upon arriving home from the event.
It was urgent to announce the party’s founding to the world, he said, adding that it was crucial that foreign media reported the event.
In the party’s early days, DPP members lobbied foreign governments to support Taiwan’s push for democracy and recognize the atrocities committed by the KMT during the waning Martial Law era, he said.
The events led to then-Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham’s trip to Taiwan to interview Chiang on Oct. 6, 1986.
Chiang told Graham that the government would lift martial law and introduce reforms and policies to liberalize Taiwan, You Ching said.
In the interview, Chiang also said that any newly formed party would need to adhere to the Republic of China Constitution and contribute to countering the agenda of communist China, You Ching said.
The interview assured DPP members that “Chiang had come to accept the DPP’s existence,” he said.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS