A Taiwan 228 Care Association executive yesterday said that the group would not allow Taipei mayor-elect Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to attend its commemoration events, as he claims to be a descendant of the Chiang family and has apparently endorsed the KMT’s past authoritarian regime.
“Results of the nine-in-one elections have seen Chiang Wang-an winning the Taipei mayoral election. During campaigning, he stressed his bloodline and espoused himself as heir to the Chiang political dynasty,” the association said in a statement.
Chiang is to be sworn in as mayor on Sunday.
Photo: CNA
“Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was the man responsible for the 228 Massacre in Taiwan in 1947. [His son and former president] Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) led the execution of White Terror,” the association said.
“Countless Taiwanese were killed, imprisoned and tortured under the authoritarian regimes of the father-and-son Chiang dictators,” it added.
The victims of repression and their families have suffered, and the pain of the families has not ended, because the truth of what happened to their loved ones has not been revealed, while many who committed the atrocities remain unpunished, it said.
“We must have the determination to turn away Chiang Wang-an from any commemoration events for the 228 Incident, because he continues to claim his Chiang family bloodline,” association director Wang Wen-hung (王文宏) said.
“We also insist on refusing those who have supported mass murderer Chiang Kai-shek and his family, as well as existing political forces that still do not want to recognize what has happened and support the Chiang family’s political rule,” he said.
Such forces have opposed the dismantling of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, with its continued existence amounting to trampling upon the dignity of Taiwanese, Wang said.
Wang said Nobel Peace Prize laureate South African Bishop Desmond Tutu in 1984 said there is “no future without forgiveness” and “true reconciliation cannot be achieved by denying the past.”
“In Taiwan, if we do not have the courage to face the pain and suffering of the past, then our nation will always be subject to intimidation of violence from authoritarian political forces,” Wang said.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
RSS