For many democracy activists in Taiwan, the Independence Evening Post (自立晚報) is not just a newspaper, it's also a piece of history, a chronicle of the battles they fought against a authoritarian KMT regime.
Founded in 1947, the Post was the first paper in the country to advocate "independence from political parties" during a time when Taiwan was ruled by martial law and press freedom was only a dream.
During its 54-year history, the paper stood out from its counterparts by challenging the KMT's dominance and lending support to dissidents and non-KMT politicians alike.
In 1977, when former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (
Though elected as a county magistrate, Hsu was removed from office for allegedly taking part in an illegal protest.
In 1979, after traveling to the US and commenting on the repressive handling of a peaceful human rights protest which came to be known as the Kaohsiung Incident, Hsu was blacklisted by the KMT regime.
Six years later Hsu was prevented from entering Taiwan for a second time. The Post was the only media organization to report the event.
In 1987, the Post again flouted governmental rules by sending two of its reporters -- Hsu Lu (
Besides having recorded the significant events in Taiwan's political transformation, the Post also acted as a cradle to nurture many prominent journalists. Several of them serve in vital posts in the Chen administration, including the deputy secretary general of the National Security Council and former publisher of the Taipei Times, Antonio Chiang (
In 1988, the Post group founded a morning newspaper one year after restrictions on the press were lifted.
But the frequent changing of management over the last decade seems to have hastened the publication's demise.
After a financial crisis in 1995, the paper was taken over by KMT Taipei City Councilor Chen Cheng-chung (陳政忠), who led the paper down a pro-KMT path.
After considerable struggle, the morning newspaper was shut down in 1999.
In October, Wang Shih-chien (王世堅), a DPP city councilor in Taipei, took over management of the newspaper. The return to DPP favor, however, appears to have done nothing to improve its fortunes.
As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft. The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft. The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect
Some foreign companies are considering moving Taiwanese employees out of China after Beijing said it could impose the death penalty on “die-hard” Taiwanese independence advocates, four people familiar with the matter said. The new guidelines have caused some Taiwanese expatriates and foreign multinationals operating in China to scramble to assess their legal risks and exposure, said the people, who include a lawyer and two executives with direct knowledge of the discussions. “Several companies have come to us to assess the risks to their personnel,” said the lawyer, James Zimmerman, a Beijing-based partner at the Perkins Coie law firm. He declined to identify
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,
PROPOSAL: The submarines, the first of which would enter into production in 2026, would fire Harpoon missiles and feature better combat systems than the ‘Hai Kun’ The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has proposed a NT$284 billion (US$8.75 billion) plan to build seven attack submarines using an improved design based on the completed Hai Kun (海鯤), or “Narwhal,” prototype submarine, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The plan — which has the support of high-ranking officials — falls under the ministry’s annual budget proposal that is to be submitted to the Executive Yuan, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The new submarines are designed to fire heavy torpedoes and Harpoon missiles, while the Hai Kun is only capable of firing heavy torpedoes, and