The concerted effort of those who went through political persecution kept the flame of Taiwan’s democracy alive, Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident.
The oppression, authoritarian rule and Martial Law period in Taiwan gave the people a cause, Chen said at a seminar organized by the National Human Rights Museum in Taipei, which is hosting an international conference titled “Comparative Studies of Democratization in East Asia” ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident on Tuesday next week.
“We suffered much, but we never gave up our hopes or our ideals,” said Chen, who was arrested over the incident and jailed for six years during the White Terror era. “If one can dedicate their life toward realizing an ideal, it would be truly romantic.”
Photo: CNA
The Kaohsiung Incident was a pro-democracy demonstration organized by Formosa Magazine employees on Dec. 10, 1979.
Society changed visibly after the incident, Chen said.
Chen thanked the people of that era for willingly and bravely standing up for protesters, especially for political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) while he was a fugitive.
She also honored the late Reverend Kao Chun-ming (高俊明) for “being willing to protect people and treat them with decency in those times.”
“The people of the Formosa Incident era will inevitably grow old and pass away, but the new generation, with their ideals for how Taiwan should be and their search for democracy and freedom, that has not and will not change,” Chen said.
This is the spirit that the younger generation must embrace, she said.
Deputy Minister of Culture Kevin Peng (彭俊亨) said that the Kaohsiung Incident was a crucial point in the development of Taiwan’s democracy.
Many young winners of the Ministry of Culture’s awards say they cherish the “free and liberal creative environment” that allows them to create works that have uniquely Taiwanese features, Peng said.
Thanks go to those who helped bring about this freedom, he said.
While Taiwan differs greatly compared with four decades ago, “threats and oppression still exist,” Peng said, calling on the people to uphold and maintain the nation’s democracy.
National Museum of Korean Contemporary History director Chu Chin-oh and Sungkonghoe University professor Kim Dong-choon shared perspectives of history and political sociology from democratization in South Korea.
Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor deputy chair Chong Yiu-kwong (莊耀洸) and Initium Media editor-in-chief Lee Chih-te (李志德) analyzed current events in Hong Kong.
An exhibition on the Kaohsiung Incident is to open tomorrow at the White Terror Memorial Park in Sindian’s Jingmei (景美) area. It runs through Sept. 30.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS