While the nation now enjoys freedom of the press along with one of the most liberal political systems in Asia, these accomplishments would not have been possible without the sacrifices made by protesters during the Kaohsiung Incident, panelists attending a two-day conference to commemorate the Kaohsiung Incident said yesterday.
Looking back at the incident, academics debated the reasons behind the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government's heavy-handed crackdown on the protest — including its political isolation following the rupture in relations with the US and domestic pressures for political change — and the implications of its action.
“The KMT government experienced one of the most spectacular breakdowns in foreign affairs in world history ... It used to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council that was able to veto the admission of Mongolia into the body,” Wu Chih-chung (吳志中), a political science professor at Soochow University, told the forum in Kaohsiung.
“A decade later, KMT government officials weren't even allowed to enter the UN building,” Wu said.
As a result, to cement its rule, the government turned to cracking down on domestic discontent as foreign pressure intensified, Wu said.
Wang Si-wei (王思維), an assistant professor at Nanhua University, said that losing the US as an ally was the last drop in the bucket for the government.
“The US was one of the few major allies left at the end of the 1970s ... The government lost all credibility on the international stage after relations broke off [in 1979],” he said, adding that the quick military trials of the defendants from the Kaohsiung Incident showed the government's insecurity.
The researchers said the 1970s was also a period where Taiwan's pro-democratic movement flourished, a series of changes that authorities were not yet ready to accept.
“The 1970s-era ushered in the rapid development of the nation's middle class, which was becoming increasingly interested in public affairs and change through popular movements,” said Chen Shi-hong (陳世宏), a researcher on the Kaohsiung Incident. “Some of these middle-class intellectuals formed the core of the new 'Tangwai' [黨外, or outside party] movement.”
He added that the arrests of the dissidents attracted more intellectuals, including former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who became their defense lawyers.
Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), a researcher at Academia Sinica, also drew attention to the government's inability to tell whether protesters shouting slogans such as “Long live the Taiwanese” were there in support of increased freedoms or Taiwanese independence.
“They couldn't decide if these slogans meant that the public wanted more liberties or were against the Republic of China,” Chen said, adding that in the end, “it didn't matter as they believed both to be crimes.”
The conference capped off a month of events held by the Kaohsiung City Government to commemorate the incident. A photo exhibition will continue until Dec. 23 at the city's Formosa Boulevard MRT station.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS