The Taiwanese are familiar with American and Japanese support for Taiwan's democratic movement during the martial law period, but few know of European support during that period.
While European support is not often mentioned, two Dutchmen, the publisher of the now defunct Taiwanese Communique, Gerrit van der Wees, and Coen Blaauw, executive director of the Formosan Association for Public Relations (FAPR), were invited to attend "A Journey of Remembrance and Appreciation," the conference organized by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (
Both men were blacklisted by the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration for their efforts.
"It may be a Dutch conspiracy," Gerrit van der Wees, a 58-year-old aerospace engineer, said tongue-in-cheek.
Van der Wees with his Taiwanese wife Chen Mei-chin (陳美津) published Taiwanese Communique, an English-publication reporting on political developments in Taiwan for the international community.
The publication started in 1979 around the time of the Kaohsiung Incident. The couple published newsletters to report on and analyze the incident and its aftermath.
A total of 105 issues were published over a 24-year period. The publication folded in June, but the couple continue to update its Web site (www.taiwandc.org) to provide information on current events.
Van der Wees said that his involvement with Taiwan dated back to when he was a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, and was active in Amnesty International.
"At first I had little idea about Taiwan's authoritarian state until a fellow Taiwanese student one day came to me and asked me to help Taiwan's political prisoners," he said.
Van der Wees and his wife moved back to the Netherlands in 1981.
In 1983 they invited Chou Ching-yu (周清玉), now a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator, to visit the Netherlands and arranged for her to lobby members of the Dutch parliament to pressure the KMT administration to release its political prisoners.
In May 2000, Van der Wees and his wife were invited to attend President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration as honored guests.
"When I shook Chen's hand, my heart was filled with joy to see Taiwan transformed into a democratic country. This was like a moment when one's dream finally comes true," Van der Wees wrote in an article published in the conference's brochure.
Blaauw voiced a similar sentiment in his article.
"I know I am making a difference. I know that I have contributed to Taiwan's democracy over the past years and that I am still doing so today," Blauuw wrote.
A case of the flu kept Blauuw from attending the conference.
"Taiwan independence is a big task, but the good news is that every passing day we come a little closer to the solution," he said in an telephone interview with the Taipei Times from his home in the US.
Blauuw had his first contact with Taiwan when he was doing his master's thesis in international law in the 1980s.
At first he wanted do something on Japan, but most of his classmates were doing Japan because it was a fashionable subject.
"So I decided to be different, and due to the historical connection between Taiwan and Holland, I thought something interesting might come of this," Blauuw said.
He ended up doing a thesis on the Dutch-Taiwanese submarine deals in 1981 and 1983.
He met with members of the Formosan Association of Public Affairs (FAPA), a pro-independence group, at a conference in Washington in 1988, not long after his graduation, and has been working for the association ever since.
He is now the executive director of its lobbying arm, FAPR.
"FAPA's main aim is to lobby the US Congress," Blauuw said.
"What I am most proud of is the success we had in getting Taiwan-ese Americans allowed to list `Taiwan' instead of `China' as their place of birth in their American passports," he said.
Blauuw said that in previous research he had done for Van der Wees on Taiwan's future, he had concluded that the nation's future should be determined by its 23 million people.
"And I won't get married before Taiwan becomes independent," said Blauuw, who is 45 and still single, half-jokingly.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as