A parade marking the 40th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident was held in the city yesterday to commemorate the sacrifices of people who fought for the nation’s democracy, freedom and human rights.
The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, refers to a police crackdown, under the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, on a rally held by Formosa Magazine and opposition politicians on Dec. 10, 1979, to mark Human Rights Day.
The event is generally recognized as an important turning point in the nation’s democratization.
Photo: CNA
Yesterday’s parade, jointly organized by the Defend Democracy Safeguard Taiwan Alliance, the Taiwan Society and several other local civic groups, marched around the roads surrounding the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system’s Formosa Boulevard Station.
Former premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) — who provided legal counsel for several victims following the incident — and human rights activists from Taiwan and abroad attended the parade, which also featured speeches by a number of victims of the incident.
Although the incident is now a distant memory, the people of Taiwan today should cherish their hard-won democracy, freedom of speech and human rights, Chang said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took part in the parade briefly before heading to another event.
Other participants included representatives from Amnesty International, and human rights activists Klaus H. Walter from Germany, and Masahiro Watarida and Takayuki Munakata from Japan.
The parade concluded with a prayer led by pastor from the Presbyterian Church.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) took part in the prayer, expressing gratitude for living through that era as it has made her life more meaningful.
She also thanked the attorneys who defended for the victims, and the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and several human rights groups who helped victims of the incident.
Chen was among eight people, including veteran activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) and former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), who were tried in a military court and given sentences ranging from 12 years to life in prison for their involvement in the rally in 1979. Forty-three other people were tried in civilian courts and given two to seven-year sentences.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
RSS