Veteran pro-localization advocate and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Wang Tuoh (王拓), who had been hospitalized since July 30 after a heart attack, died yesterday. He was 72.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is also DPP chairperson, said Wang’s death saddened the party.
“His continued efforts to improve Taiwan will forever be something that party members aspire to,” she said.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of Tsai Shih-ying’s legislative office
Wang, a Formosa Incident victim, served as legislator for three consecutive terms and chairman of the then-Council of Cultural Affairs in former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration.
He also served as DPP secretary-general when Tsai first assumed leadership of the party in 2008, following the party’s massive defeat in the legislative and presidential elections that year.
The DPP said that Wang volunteered to take on the position of secretary-general for free in 2008, sacrificing time with his family.
Wang’s devotion to the party during a time of difficulty was impressive, the DPP said, adding that during his tenure, he eased the party’s financial burden by paying off NT$150 million (US$4.8 million) of the party’s debts.
“Wang’s courage in the face of hardship and his selfless sacrifice set an example for the party,” the DPP said.
DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) visited Wang’s family and offered the party’s assistance.
DPP Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應), the head of Wang’s office for eight years, said Wang was like a father to him and he was greatly saddened by his passing.
Aside from being a political figure, Wang was also a renowned writer.
His novel Wang Jun Zhao Gui (望君早歸), describing life in Keelung’s Badouzih Township (八斗子), has been cited as a model literary representation of life in Taiwanese fishing villages. His other works, such as Jin Shui Shen (金水嬸), are representative of “nativist literature” (鄉土文學).
Wang was not a prolific writer, but his works were solid and his diction clean, writer Chu Yu-hsun (朱宥勳) said.
There are few writings on life in Taiwanese fishing villages, which is one reason Wang became the representative figure of this subject, Chu said.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at