Huang Hsin-chieh (
Huang was admitted into National Taiwan University Hospital on Nov. 15 after suffering a stroke. After surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain, he was said to be in stable condition but yesterday morning he suffered a heart attack and was pronounced dead at 11:50am. He was 72.
Born in 1928, Huang's political career started in 1949 when he was elected as a Taipei City councillor. He quickly became identified with the so-called tangwai movement, a broad group of opposition political forces antagonistic to the one-party rule of the KMT.
PHOTO:GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
In 1969, Huang was elected to the legislature for life -- a practice that ended at that election.
He also led a democratic movement, which culminated on December 10, 1979 in a clash -- widely believed to be engineered by KMT provocateurs -- between riot police and protesters, an event later dubbed as the "Kaohsiung Incident" or "Formosa Incident" (
That event is widely recognized as a milestone in Taiwan's quest for political freedom and democratic reform.
As a result of the incident, Huang was arrested and sentenced to 14 years in prison on sedition charges, but was given early parole in 1987. He quickly assumed leadership of the opposition movement and was elected chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, the successor to the tangwai established in 1986 while he was still in jail.
He led the party for three years, helping put through major democratic reforms.
Huang liked to boast of having never lost an election, though actually he did lose in a legislative election in 1992 -- a loss which was reversed the following year after one of the victors was convicted of vote-rigging.
Huang's death yesterday was widely lamented as a major loss to Taiwan of one of the prime movers behind reforms which gave it the democratic system it now enjoys.
"He is the major figure in the movement which brought peaceful democratic reform to Taiwan," said Chang Chun-hung (
"He worked in a peaceful way that saw reforms without bloodshed. And he did not claim credit for those achievements," Chang said at Huang's home.
"He never hesitated to find people who were more capable than himself, and delegate responsibilities to them, hoping that reforms could be made and not fearing that himself would be shadowed by others," Chang said.
"He once considered running for the presidency but when younger people raised objections, he dropped out instantly," Chang said. "He was a loveable old man."
Chen Shui-bian (
"He is my eternal mentor. He was like a father to me. It was he who led me onto the path of politics," Chen said at the doorstep of Huang's house where a makeshift structure was being erected by workers for Huang's funeral.
"When I visited him in the hospital, he could not speak very clearly, but I knew what he wanted to tell me. I won't let him down."
Huang Tien-fu (
"His last clear sentence was `I will help you' which was said to Chen," he said.
Huang's younger brother also said that although he fudged on small issues, he never showed confusion on important matters. For example, he never accepted repeated offers from the Presidential Office of vice-chairmanship to the National Unification Committee.
"We feel sad that he left us on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident. But while life has to end at some point, we must maintain his spirit," said Frank Hsieh (
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