Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday paid tribute to murdered professor Chen Wen-chen (陳文成) to commemorate the 31st anniversary of his passing.
The two senior DPP officials posted tributes to Chen on their Facebook pages and highlighted the significance of Chen’s death during the White Terror era to the nation’s democratic development.
An assistant statistics professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a supporter of the Taiwanese democracy movement, Chen returned to Taiwan in July 1981 to visit his family and was found dead on the campus of National Taiwan University (NTU) on the morning of July 3 after being interrogated by the Taiwan Garrison Command the previous day.
Some suspected Chen was tortured to death by the Taiwan Garrison Command. The garrison command denied the allegation and said Chen could have committed suicide or accidentally fallen off a balcony.
“The truth has not been discovered and the murderers have not yet been identified after 31 years,” Su said.
“As we are breathing the fresh air of freedom and democracy 25 years after the end of the Martial Law era, the corruption and abuse of power remain under the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] administration,” he said.
Tsai chose to remember Chen in a more indirect way, saying that “many scars have not healed yet.”
The process of the Taiwanese people’s fight for freedom and democracy is like one’s wait for dawn after a long dark night, she said.
“The development of freedom and democracy is an irreversible process, as well as a people’s life choice. Hopefully, those in power will keep people’s tears and scars in mind and always remember people’s thirst for freedom and democracy,” Tsai wrote.
On Monday night, hundreds of people and students gathered at the location where Chen’s body was found for a memorial ceremony. They paid tribute to Chen and protested against the NTU’s refusal to establish a memorial monument for the professor.
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
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of