In the past two weeks, two more "comfort women," who were forced to provide sex services to Japanese soldiers during World War II, passed away, leaving only 22 victims in Taiwan to continue the ongoing battle for justice and dignity.
Li Wen Hung-shi (
The other woman, Chen Mei, 85, died after a seizure early this month. She had been imprisoned on the Chinese island of Hainan from 1943 to 1945.
The remaining comfort women are all in their 80s or 90s. Several lawsuits to win an apology from the Japanese government have failed, but they refuse to give up.
"With one foot in the grave, what can they do with the compensation?" asked Graceia Lai (
The foundation is planning to stage a fundraising fair in Taipei's Yongkang Park today.
Several former comfort women will be present at the fundraiser.
The goal is to raise NT$5 million (US$162,000) for a "virtual museum of women's rights" on the Internet to expose the crimes committed against comfort women. It will also be a place for all women to express themselves, Lai said.
It is estimated the Japanese army abducted at least 400,000 women in China, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines to provide sexual favors to its soldiers during World War II.
In Taiwan, the estimated number of victims varies from 1,200 to 2,000, but only 58 have been confirmed by the foundation, and now only 22 are still alive.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
RSS