Senior Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members, friends and fans lamented the death of former Academia Historica president Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲), who passed away during a research trip to the US on Friday evening Taipei time.
“Thank you, Professor Chang, thank you for what you have done for Taiwan, it was because of your insistence on researching the 228 Incident and White Terror that the younger generation are able to get to know more about this island from a Taiwan-oriented perspective, and write about our own history,” DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on her official Facebook page. “May you rest in peace, we will always remember you.”
Former DPP chairperson Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said Chang had made great contributions in academic research and education, as well as building a Taiwan perspective.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Many of Chang’s friends and fans have also posted messages or photographs with him online to remember him.
Taiwan Association of University Professors president Lu Chung-chin (呂忠津) praised Chang as the top researcher in Taiwan’s history, adding that “we could justly say that he has devoted his whole life to history research.”
“May his spirit protect the island and the generations of Taiwanese to come in the mountains as well as on the coast, in the city as well as in the rural areas,” Chang’s friend Liau Kian-tshiau (廖建超) said as he posted a photograph with Chang on Facebook.
The messages appeared as the news came on Friday evening that Chang had passed away in the US, where he was conducting interviews for a historic research project.
Chang lost consciousness unexpectedly on Friday last week and was rushed to a hospital emergency room due to myocardial infarction.
Despite efforts to save his life, Chang passed away at 5:55am Philadelphia time.
A historian renowned for his research into Taiwan’s history, particularly on the 228 Incident and the White Terror, Chang served as the head of Academia Historica from 2000 to 2008, and made the nation’s history a popular subject among academics, as well as the general public.
Prior to 2000, local history had often been overlooked, as education curricula drawn up by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) often focused on the history of China.
Chang was also a frequent guest speaker at conferences and seminars on Taiwan’s history, as well as a prodigious 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