Political heavyweights gathered yesterday at a ceremony to launch the memoirs of the Reverend Kao Chun-ming (高俊明).
They payed homage to the religious leader and political activist, who has been dubbed "the pride of Taiwan" and "the Apostle Paul of the 20th century."
The ceremony was arranged to coincide with the 21st anniversary of the arrest of Kao, who also attended the ceremony.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
On April 24, 1980, Kao was arrested and subsequently incarcerated for more than four years for offering asylum to former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德), then the most-wanted political dissident under the KMT regime.
"I am grateful for what Kao did for me. He put his own life at tremendous risk, lending me a helping hand when I was the most sought-after criminal," Shih said at yesterday's inauguration at the Chinan Church for the book The Path to the Cross: The memoir of the Reverend Kao Chun-ming (十字架之路 -- 高俊明牧師回憶錄).
Former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), who got acquainted with Kao when they were jailed in adjoining cells, said it was a blessing for him to have been able to get to know such a noble soul in his time of trouble.
"I should call it a `good karma' for me to have been close to a supreme spirit when I was experiencing the toughest time of my life. Even in prison, Kao never ceased his mission to preach Christianity," Lin recalled.
"He comforted the hearts of the inmates by singing us hymns and reading us the Gospels. His firm convictions -- which surpassed hardship, overrode misery and penetrated thick walls -- soothed our wounded spirits."
Kao, Shih and Lin were targeted for their involvement in the Kao--hsiung Incident (美麗島事件).
The incident, which occurred on Dec. 10 1979, was a state crackdown after an anti-government parade organized by Formosa magazine -- a front for a broad alliance of the so-called "tang wai" (黨外), or "outside the party," activists.
Kao, former director-general of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and now a senior advisor to President Chen Shui-bian (
Having published three declarations in 1970, 1975 and 1979 calling for Taiwan's independence and democracy, Kao explained the motives for his involvement in the democracy movement, aiming to brush aside allegations that his church was "politically ambitious."
"It is out of religious conscience and love of Taiwan's people that the Presbyterian Church is so concerned about politics. There are no so-called political aspirations," he said.
In 1980 Kao was apprehended and imprisoned because he provided assistance to Shih. However, Kao said he never had any regrets for having done so, and it was during that time that he says he felt even closer to God.
"I had no regrets at all for what I did in the past, and I feel honored for being jailed because of my love for Taiwan," Kao told the media yesterday.
He said he had voraciously read the Bible when he was jailed and, consequently, got to understand the truth of the gospels of Christianity.
"I feel grateful because it was during this time that I felt I got to know God better," he added.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
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
RSS