People with links to victims of the White Terror era yesterday called on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to reflect more on a Taiwanese perspective of history and not cater to minority views that glorify former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
Taiwan Association of University Professors chairman Hsu Wen-tang (許文堂) and others told an academic conference titled “Transitional Justice and Assessing Historic Roles of Chiang Ching-kuo” in Taipei that Tsai should examine history more closely.
At an event on Jan. 22 to open a memorial park for Chiang, Tsai called for solidarity and mutual understanding, saying that the former leader’s “staunch defense of Taiwan is a stance that unites a large part of Taiwanese society, especially as Beijing applies ever greater pressure against the country.”
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Foundation chairwoman Yang Huang Mei-hsing (楊黃美幸) told the conference, hosted by the Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation, that “Taiwan came under the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) state rule, during which Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was a brutal dictator, while Chiang Ching-kuo had other roles.”
“The most prominent of Chiang Ching-kuo’s roles was heading the secret police and state intelligence agencies,” Yang Huang said.
During the White Terror era, many people were executed, most without a trial, she said, adding that this led to untold pain and suffering, broken homes and poverty for the families of those who were killed.
“Chiang Ching-kuo ran the anti-communism policies,” which served the interests of the KMT and the Chiang family, but “Taiwanese became embroiled in the Chinese Civil War, which extended White Terror oppression and the atrocities in Taiwan,” she said.
Taiwan 228 Care Association director Wang Wen-hung (王文宏) said that Chiang Ching-kuo had no concept of democracy or human rights, which his diary and other written records show.
“Chiang Ching-kuo, along with his father, bear most of the responsibility for the brutal suppression and the 228 Incident,” Wang said.
Tsai Kun-lin (蔡焜霖), a former political prisoner who is in his 90s, was incarcerated for 10 years in the 1950s on Green Island (綠島).
“However, White Terror against me and other political prisoners did not end when we were released,” he told the conference.
“People feared to be associated with you, and we were treated with disdain and had difficulty attending school, finding jobs and undertaking other social activities,” he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS