A special exhibition about a fierce crackdown on a peaceful campaign for democracy during the Japanese colonial period under the Peace Order and Police Act (POPA, 治安警察法) was launched yesterday in a former Japanese-era police station in Taipei.
Commonly known as the “POPA Incident” (治警事件), the crackdown began on Dec. 16, 1923, when the then-Japanese governor-general of Taiwan ordered the arrests of Taiwanese civil rights activists involved in a campaign for the creation of an elected representative body.
As many as 99 leaders of the movement — including Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水), Tsai Pei-huo (蔡培火) and Wang Min-chuan (王敏川) — were arrested, interrogated, detained or jailed during the crackdown.
“Although the POPA Incident is a very important event, many people do not know about it, partially because of a lack of historical documents,” Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Liu Wei-gong (劉維公) said at the exhibition’s opening ceremony. “With pictures and documents donated by private collectors, we are now able to get a more in-depth view of the incident.”
Chiang Wei-shui Cultural Foundation chairman Yen Wen-hsi (顏文熙) said the crackdown happened after Taiwanese activists held demonstrations in Tokyo, not only petitioning for political representation, but also protesting the heavy-handed rule of the governor-general in Taiwan.
“The activists even went as far as directly petitioning to former Japanese emperor Hirohito when he traveled to Taiwan as crown prince,” Yen said.
While the activists were found not guilty at a first court appearance, Chiang and Tsai were sentenced to four months in prison by the court of appeals.
Newspapers were asked not to report on the crackdown by the police, while public telecommunications services with the outside world were also temporarily cut.
Liberty Times Group chairman Wu A-ming (吳阿明), who attended the ceremony, said: “What is right and what is wrong can only be decided by future generations after a news event becomes history.”
“When [the activists] were arrested by the Japanese police, Taiwanese may have thought the activists worked for the good of Taiwan, but people who worked for the government at the time may have considered them traitors,” Wu added.
The exhibition is being held at the former Taipei North Police Station at 87 Ningxia Rd, Datong District, Taipei City, and will run until Nov. 5.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by