Wed, Dec 01, 1999 page3

• Democracy pioneer dies

  REFORMER In a political career that spanned 50 years, Huang was a major figure behind Taiwan's transition to democracy and political pluralism

  • By Oliver Lin / STAFF REPORTER
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  Huang Hsin-chieh (黃信??/CHINESE>), lauded as one of the godfathers of Taiwan's democratic reform movement, died in Taipei yesterday of a heart attack.

  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.

  

  DPP elder Huang Hsin-chieh died yesterday of heart failure. His political partner, Chang Chun-hung, second right, and his family members help move his body back home.

  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" (美麗島事件).

  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 (張俊宏), Huang's partner for decades in the quest for democracy and also imprisoned after the Kaohsiung Incident.

  "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 (3?糮?/CHINESE>), DPP presidential candidate and a defense lawyer for Huang after the Kaohsiung Incident, also visited Huang's home yesterday evening. He kneeled down three times and kowtowed nine times in front of an alter set up for Huang, in a show of utmost respect for him.

  "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 (黃?挹?/CHINESE>), Huang's younger brother and a former legislator, said Huang's biggest regret would be that he could not see through the presidential election and help with Chen's campaign.

  "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 (謝長廷), the DPP mayor of Kaohsiung and another of the lawyers for the defendants in the Kaohsiung Incident. President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), vice president Lien Chan (3s戰) and other political leaders in Taiwan also sent their condolences to Huang's family yesterday.

  For your information

  Life of a DPP patriarch

  1928 Born in Talungtung, Taipei City. 1949 Elected Taipei City Councilor. 1969 Elected to the legislature in a supplementary election. 1978 Organized election campaigns for such "tangwai" figures as Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Yao Chia-wen (姚1??, and Huang Huang-hsiung (黃?雄). 1979 Launched Formosa Magazine. Arrested the same year following the Kaohsiung incident on Dec. 10. 1980 Sentenced to 14 years in prison on sedition charges. 1987 Released on parole. 1988 Elected as chairman of the DPP. 1989 Re-elected as DPP chairman. 1992 Organized April 19 demonstration demanding direct presidential election. Ran in Huanlien constituency in legislative elections. FEB. 1996 Sentenced to six months in prison on charges of illegal assembly. Appointed as a presidential advisor.
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