The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) cannot evade its responsibility for past human rights violations and will face up to the past honestly, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.
Speaking at a memorial concert in Taipei on International Human Rights Day, Ma said whether it is the 228 Incident or the White Terror era, his party must face its mistakes with a reflective attitude.
“Incidents of human rights violations have occurred around the world. They have happened here. The government back then and the government now are the same — the KMT. So we cannot evade that and there is no need to do so,” the president said.
Photo: Sam Yeh / AFP
“Let us face the past honestly and reflect with sincerity to restore the truth and give comfort to the families,” he said.
The 228 Incident refers to the crackdown launched by the then-KMT regime following an incident in Taipei on Feb. 27, 1947. Martial law was imposed later that year and not lifted until 1987. Thousands of people were killed during that era, which became known as the White Terror, and an estimated 140,000 to 200,000 were imprisoned.
Ma presented certificates of appreciation to several political victims and their relatives who contributed to research and education on the atrocities by donating memorabilia to the government.
Photo: Sam Yeh / AFP
The concert was attended by more than 300 White Terror victims and their families, as well as Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台).
Performers and descendants of some of the victims performed songs in memory of those who suffered or lost their lives.
Meanwhile, a group of people who were either involved in the Kaohsiung Incident or its aftermath gathered to commemorate Human Rights Day and expressed concern about the human rights situation in Taiwan.
The Kaohsiung Incident refers a government crackdown on organizers and participants in an anti-government parade in the city on Dec. 10, 1979, organized by Formosa Magazine.
Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), one of eight people jailed in the ensuing crackdown, accused Ma of inaction on promoting human rights.
“While history must move forward, some people are trying to take the country back [to the authoritarian era]. What concerns me the most on this day is that most people have either forgotten about or do not yet know about Taiwan’s past struggles,” she said.
Chou Ching-yu (周清玉), wife of former Examination Yuan president Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), said that the current administration’s infringement of human rights is astonishing and that Taiwanese have to work together to voice their opposition of the injustice.
“That Taiwan’s human rights development has been backsliding in recent years is undeniable. The Ma administration has not engaged in substantial action despite its boasts about having ratified a pair of international human rights covenants,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said at a separate event in Pingtung County.
In a Facebook message, former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wrote: “What glorifies a country is not its assets, nor the violence it resorts in repressing people. It is its effort to safeguard human rights — the freedoms and equality that every man is entitled to enjoy.”
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
NEGOTIATIONS: Taiwan has good relations with Washington and the outlook for the negotiations looks promising, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Taiwan’s GDP growth this year is expected to decrease by 0.43 to 1.61 percentage points due to the effects of US tariffs, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei yesterday, citing a preliminary estimate by a private research institution. Taiwan’s economy would be significantly affected by the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs slapped by the US, which took effect yesterday, Liu said, adding that GDP growth could fall below 3 percent and potentially even dip below 2 percent to 1.53 percent this year. The council has commissioned another institution
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
RSS