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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS