A parade is to be held in Kaohsiung on Saturday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident, organizers said yesterday.
Sacrifices by people who fought for democracy, freedom and human rights in Taiwan must not be forgotten, Taiwan Friends Association director Huang Kun-hu (黃崑虎) told reporters in Taipei.
The incident started when the pro-democracy Formosa Magazine (美麗島雜誌) held a demonstration commemorating International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, 1979, in Kaohsiung, calling on the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government to respect human rights and demanding democracy.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
Within hours, the protesters were surrounded by scores of military police, while prominent leaders of the democracy movement were arrested. Several of them later went on to become leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The incident is considered an important event in Taiwan’s transition to democracy.
“Let history be a lesson to all,” Huang said, urging people to cherish the nation’s hard-won democratic political system and free elections.
At the time of the incident, there was no freedom of speech and the government deemed the protest a revolt, said Linda Arrigo (艾琳達), a veteran democracy campaigner, human rights advocate and environmentalist.
However, it merely called for freedom, democracy and human rights in Taiwan, Arrigo said.
“Looking back at this stage of Taiwanese history and comparing it to what is going on right now in Hong Kong, I believe that many people here feel for the pro-democracy protesters there,” she said.
Saturday’s parade, jointly organized by the Defend Democracy Safeguard Taiwan Alliance, the Taiwan Society and several other civic groups, is to take place on the roads around the Formosa Boulevard Station of the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit system.
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS