President Chen Shui-bian (
"The most important task at hand is reforming the Constitution to consolidate our democracy and the foundations for Taiwan's future and long-term development," Chen said at a banquet last night at the Grand Hotel in Taipei, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Formosan Self-Salvation written by Peng Ming-min (彭明敏).
Peng, a senior presidential advisor and widely regarded as the godfather of the nation's independence movement, was joined by around 550 guests, including Deputy Premier Yeh Chu-lan (
The fundraising banquet was also held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Peng Ming-min Foundation.
Chen said the occasion recognized and honored Peng's lifelong devotion to Taiwan. He described Peng as "Taiwan's warrior" and likened Peng to a "beacon" in the nation's slow walk to democracy.
"The declaration drafted by Peng and his allies said something that no one else dared to say ... We respect and are in awe of their courage," Chen said.
At the time, Peng was director of the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University. He drafted the declaration with two students, Hsieh Tsung-min (
The document declared that China and Taiwan should be recognized as separate legal entities; that it was impossible to "retake the mainland" as one popular Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) slogan used to say, for the ideology served only to perpetuate the KMT regime; and that the KMT government represented neither China nor Taiwan.
The declaration also set three basic objectives: establish a new state with a new government, create a new constitution and join the UN as a new nation.
While acknowledging Taiwan's achievements in democratization, Chen drew a comparison with the US and other democratic countries, and said that there was still some room for improvement.
Peng expressed gratitude to those who helped him throughout the decades, and spoke also of the challenge that the country faces today.
"Everyone knows about Tai-wan's democracy now, but the main issue facing us is this: Are we willing to work and sacrifice to uphold and consolidate Taiwan's democracy?" Peng said.
Turning to the heated debate on the DPP government's NT$610.8 billion arms package, Peng showed little patience with those who opposed it.
"If these people dare to claim -- and really are -- lovers of peace as they say, then they should go to Beijing and promote their message of peace there," Peng said. "In view of the threat faced by the nation, we need to protect ourselves."
Peng, a native of Taichung County, said that the Feb. 28 Incident in 1947 aroused within him an abhorrence of the undemocratic and heavy-handed KMT regime, which led him, as a political scientist, to issue a public statement urging people to challenge it.
The Feb. 28 Incident saw clashes between Taiwanese and the newly-installed KMT government lead to the killing of tens of thousands of people.
A new edition of Peng's memoir, A Taste of Freedom, written overseas after escaping from Taiwan, was also released yesterday.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS