The government should reopen the investigation into the homicide of Chen Wen-chen (陳文成), as questions about the incident four decades ago remain unresolved, the New Power Party said yesterday.
Chen, an assistant professor of mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University in the US, returned to visit family in Taiwan in 1981 and was found dead near a library at National Taiwan University (NTU) on July 3 that year.
A day earlier, the 31-year-old democracy advocate had been detained and interrogated by the Taiwan Garrison Command, a state security force that has since been disbanded. Although Chen died 41 years ago, “the complete truth of the incident” remains unknown, the party said in a statement.
Photo courtesy of the National Taiwan University Student Association
An investigation report published by the Transitional Justice Commission in May said that Chen was likely murdered by the Taiwan Garrison Command.
However, details such as the identity of the murderer were not included in the investigation due to the unavailability of key political files, the party said.
Some of these files were destroyed, while others were difficult to obtain because they are stored within different agencies, it said.
The National Security Council and Investigative Bureau should be held accountable for refusing to release the files on national security or diplomatic grounds, the party said.
“In July last year, we had agreed with the Transitional Justice Commission’s proposal to reopen the investigation of the Chen Wen-chen incident. Since Chen was believed to be murdered and the government was involved in the case, the Ministry of Justice should launch another investigation so that the truth of the incident can be fully uncovered,” the party said.
The party also proposed that the Article 11 of the Political Archives Act (政治檔案條例) be amended to prevent intelligence agencies from withholding information in such investigations on security or confidentiality grounds.
Academia Historica recently published eight volumes of historical materials related to 1979’s Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, in which pro-democracy demonstrations were violently broken up by government forces.
However, the party said that certain material in the volumes was redacted at the request of national security officials.
“The Transitional Justice Commission said that information related to the Formosa Incident should be made public,” the party said, adding that the release of all related historical documents should be made legal through an amendment to the act.
The amendment should also list reasons used to withhold information that can be vetted by a higher authority, the party said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS