The government should demolish any memorials that are reminiscent of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) past autocracy, including the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwanese architect Cheng Tzu-tsai (鄭自才) said yesterday at a book launch in Taipei.
Cheng introduced his memoir about the failed assassination of then-deputy premier Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) in New York on April 24, 1970, while the pan-blue camp was commemorating the 30th anniversary of Chiang’s death at a separate event yesterday.
The assassination attempt was planned and executed by Huang Wen-hsiung (黃文雄), who is Cheng’s brother-in-law, with Cheng as a collaborator.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
However, the attempt failed and the two were detained by police on the spot.
“As the assassination attempt took place about 50 years ago, many people nowadays do not know about it,” Cheng said. “Hopefully, this book can help expedite the nation’s realization of transitional justice.”
The memoir, titled To Kill a Dictator: The Attempted Assassination of Chiang Ching-kuo, was coauthored by Cheng and Alliance for Justice in Educational Transformation secretary-general Chang Wen-lung (張文隆).
The authors discuss vignettes in Taiwanese history from 1936 to 1974, including Taiwanese independence movements in the US, the assassination plan, Cheng’s imprisonment in the US and the UK, and his political asylum in Sweden.
Cheng’s memoir ends when he was released on parole from a US prison on Nov. 25, 1974, and left for Sweden to be reunited with his family.
“The perpetrators of political crimes during the White Terror era should undergo legal trials and punishment,” Cheng said.
“The Chiangs’ ghosts linger in Taiwanese society,” which is why former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and others still worship them, he said.
“The nation cannot become truly free and democratic if its transitional justice is not realized,” he said, calling on the government to demolish the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and other symbols of the KMT’s dictatorship.
By introducing the endeavors of Huang and Cheng, Chang said he hopes the book could incite desire to fight for Taiwanese independence.
Documentation about Taiwanese history has largely been based on KMT propaganda that supports a “one China” principle, while the nation needs more historical texts that reflect the truth, said US political activist Linda Gail Arrigo, who was the English-language translator of the book summary.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS