To mark the 30th anniversary of the lifting of martial law, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday launched a three-day summer camp for international students to familiarize them with the nation’s democratization.
The camp began with a tour for foreign students of several sites in the north that are significant in the history of the nation’s democratization.
Participants visited Taipei’s Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation, New Taipei City’s Jingmei Human Rights Memorial Park, and Yilan’s Chen Ding-nan Educational Foundation and Chilin Foundation to gain a better understanding of the history of the White Terror era and democracy pioneers Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) and Chen Ding-nan (陳定南).
The tour was fashioned after the Freedom Trail, a route in Boston, Massachusetts, that leads visitors through sites significant to US history.
“The democratic system is the most important part of our national identity and distinguishes Taiwan from China,” DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said. “It is why we began to think, since the 30th anniversary of the DPP’s founding last year, about how to turn Taiwan’s steps toward democracy into a cultural journey or part of the nation’s assets.”
The DPP last year marked the 30th anniversary of its founding and the 30th anniversary of the lifting of martial law this year, and how they contributed to the dismantling of an authoritarian regime and the building of the nation’s democratic system over the years, he added.
“The party’s mission over the next 30 years is to protect our democracy,” Hung said.
Participants included students from the US, Europe and Africa, as well as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and India. The presence of Southeast Asian students is in line with the New Southbound Policy that the DPP administration has implemented to connect with the region, the party said.
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
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we