A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator is asking the government to make public its official records pertaining to the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident, saying the public deserves a better understanding of the brutal police crackdown.
On Dec. 10, 1979, tens of thousands of pro-democracy activists were surrounded by military police and dispersed using tear gas during a human rights march in Kaohsiung. Prominent leaders of the movement were arrested, charged with sedition and tried in military courts.
The legal team that defended the activists, the latter of which included former DPP chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德) and former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), later formed the core of a new democracy movement and were some of the founding members of the main opposition party. Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), a young lawyer at the time, would later become president.
PHOTO: CNA
DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) yesterday said any efforts to commemorate the movement would be incomplete if it did not include an official government account of the crackdown. She said many questions remained unresolved, including the unsolved murder of former DPP chairperson Lin I-hsiung’s (林義雄) family following the crackdown.
The Council of Cultural Affairs is expected to spend about NT$2.5 million (US$78,772) on building a showcase for historical documents relating to the Kaohsiung Incident as part of its larger exhibition on the incident. In addition, it is set to spend NT$950,000 on an investigation of such documents.
However, Chen Chia-chun (陳嘉君), Shih’s wife, yesterday held up dozens of letters bearing personal accounts that would be part of the showcase, saying none were from government officials or could help form an official account of the decision-making process during the crackdown.
She accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of playing a key role in the refusal to release the documents, citing his sensitive role in the crackdown. At the time, Ma was deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration.
“Only through these documents can the truth behind our history be revealed. These files are the key to our past,” Chen said.
Huang Hui-chun (黃惠君), executive director of the New Taiwan Foundation who is studying the Kaohsiung Incident, said the only piece of the puzzle still missing in the investigation into the crackdown was the official account.
A council official said that while the agency would continue its investigation into the missing documents, it could not make any promises.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
RSS