A memorial concert was held yesterday in Taipei to pay tribute to late independence movement pioneer and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) in honor of his dedication to the pursuit of freedom, democracy and independence in Taiwan.
Chai died of multiple organ failure on Jan. 11 at the age of 78. He had been hospitalized after a brain stem hemorrhage left him in a coma on Dec. 18 last year.
Chai’s friends performed alongside musicians at the Metropolitan Hall, with songs that included some of the lawmaker’s favorites from his 30 years abroad, such as Homeland at Dusk (黃昏的故鄉) and I’m Coming Home (回鄉的我).
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Chai left Taiwan in 1960 for the US to go to graduate school. His pro-Taiwan independence activities while in the US resulted in the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime barring him from returning home. It blacklisted him for three decades before he was able to return for a funeral in June 1990.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) were among the senior party members who praised Chai’s lifelong pursuit of democracy in Taiwan and international recognition for the nation, especially his lobbying efforts in the US Congress.
“He will be greatly missed. And we will do our best to achieve his unfulfilled dream,” Su said.
“We are here today to look back on his achievement. Dr Chai will be remembered as one who has always done everything he could for his dream, for his perseverance and for his ‘never-say-die’ mentality,” Tsai said.
Chai lived in the US while in exile, founding the World United Formosans for Independence in 1970, which brought together pro-Taiwan independence groups in Japan, Europe, Canada and the US, and the Formosan Association for Public Affairs in Los Angeles in 1982. He also focused on lobbying the US Congress on behalf of Taiwan’s independence movement.
Chai served six terms in the legislature from 1993 to 2012 and helped push for legislation on the Referendum Act (公民投票法).
Additional reporting by staff writer
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS