Activists collected more than 400 signatures in support of human rights yesterday to urge the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) to halt its planned transformation of a human rights park in Taipei.
A former military prison and court where hundreds of political prisoners were detained or put on trial during the White Terror, the Jingmei Military Detention Center in Taipei was turned into a human rights memorial featuring exhibitions of Taiwan’s democracy movement, prison cells and former military courtrooms in 2007.
However, the CCA changed the name of the park to “Jingmei Cultural Park” earlier this month and invited artistic groups to use the buildings as offices or performances halls, saying they would be allowed to alter the interior.
The plan was opposed by human rights groups and former political prisoners such as former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and former Examination Yuan president Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), who were once detained there.
“We’re not against having artistic groups there, but the groups must fit in with the human rights context and the past of this place,” said Tsao Chin-jung (曹欽榮), a representative from the Truth and Reconciliation Association.
He said the CCA should halt the selection process to find artistic groups to take over the former detention center and push for legislation to protect human rights sites across the country, running them as museums.
“In Europe, former Nazi concentration camps are well maintained and there are all kinds of government-sponsored or privately organized educational programs related to these places because there are laws regarding maintenance and operation of [the] sites,” Tsao said. “We need legislation just like that.”
Chen Chung-tung (陳中統), a political prisoner who was jailed for 10 years at the former Jingmei Military Detention Center, said the Jingmei Human Rights Memorial was an important place for thousands of ex-political prisoners and their relatives.
“It’s also an important part of Taiwan’s history — it should not be destroyed,” he said.
Lawmakers from both the Democratic Progressive Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), dictator Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) great grandson Demos Chiang (蔣友柏), more than 180 former political prisoners and 26 civic groups were among those who signed a petition in support of the activists’ demand.
After meeting with the activists, the CCA released a statement saying that it would “be more cautious in selecting which artistic groups could use the Jingmei Park area,” and hold a public hearing next week, but refused to halt the plan.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Passengers aboard Korean Airlines Flight KE189 arrived in Taichung safely yesterday after a scare the previous day encountering uncontrolled decompression, which injured 13 passengers. Flight KE189 departed from Incheon at 4:45pm on Saturday bound for Taichung with 125 passengers on board. The flight was above Jeju Island when a fault in the pressurization system occurred 50 minutes after takeoff. Online flight tracker Flightradar24’s data show that the plane dropped more than 8,000 meters within 15 minutes, before it returned and landed back at Incheon Airport at 19:38pm. Thirteen passengers on board had a headache or earache due to the incident and were hospitalized. A different
China might seek to isolate Taiwan and weaken its economy through a “quarantine,” which would make it difficult for the US to respond and force Taipei to negotiate on unification, CNN reported on Saturday. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “increasingly bellicose actions” toward Taiwan have heightened concerns that Beijing would use its military against Taiwan, it said, citing a report by think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). However, China might choose to initiate a quarantine, rather than a military invasion of Taiwan, to avoid US involvement, it said. “A quarantine [is] a law enforcement-led operation to control
A new message broadcast on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu (Brown) Line urging passengers to yield their seats to those in need, not necessarily elderly people, would be extended to other MRT lines and public transportation in the capital, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday. Chiang was responding to reporters’ questions on the sidelines of a news conference at Taipei City Hall promoting healthy walking. Several disputes over priority seats on public transportation have recently been reported, sparking debate about who qualifies to sit in them, as most of the cases involved elderly people asking young people to give up their