A series of lectures, film screenings and discussions are to be held in Taipei through April 25 to mark Freedom of Speech Day, which was yesterday.
The events, which began yesterday, are being organized by the Ministry of the Interior, the Memorial Foundation of 228 and the Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation.
The series, with the theme of “On the Road to Freedom of Speech,” comprises the “Human Library” lecture series, as well as the Human Rights and Freedom Film Festival and post-screening discussions, the organizers said.
Photo: CNA
From 2pm to 4pm on Saturday, Institute of Watch Internet Network chief executive officer Huang Yi-feng (黃益豐) is to give a lecture on the difference between freedom of speech on the Internet and cyberbullying, as well as regulation and self-discipline within the context of free speech online, they said.
From 3pm to 5pm on Saturday next week, Taiwan FactCheck Center editor-in-chief Summer Chen (陳慧敏) is to give a lecture exploring the purpose of the dissemination of false news, and how to identify such reports, the organizers said.
From 2pm to 4pm on April 24, Ou Su-ying (歐素瑛), a history professor at National Taiwan University, is to give a lecture discussing freedom of speech on school campuses, they said.
Screenings of South Korean director Kim Ui-seok’s debut feature After My Death, Oscar-nominated The Post by director Steven Spielberg, and the 2018 thriller Searching by director Aneesh Chaganty are to begin at 2pm on Sunday, on April 18 and on April 25 respectively, the organizers said.
The screenings are to be followed by discussions led by counseling psychologist Lin Chen-yi (林甄儀), Plain Law Movement senior editor Wang Ting-yu (王鼎棫) and UN Office of Information and Communications Technology consultant Jack Huang (黃一展) respectively, they added.
The events are to be held at the National 228 Memorial Museum in Zhongzheng District (中正), the organizers said.
April 7 was declared Freedom of Speech Day by the Executive Yuan in December 2016 to commemorate the death of democracy activist Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕, also known as Nylon Cheng).
Deng, who founded the magazine Freedom Era Weekly in 1984 to fight for “100 percent freedom of speech,” died by self-immolation on April 7, 1989, as police broke into his office after he had been barricaded inside for 71 days to avoid arrest after he was charged with sedition for having printed a draft “Republic of Taiwan constitution” in 1988.
Taiwan’s path to achieving freedom of speech has been a “bumpy” one, Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said yesterday at the series’ opening ceremony at the museum, adding that it took hard work to reach the level of freedom the nation enjoys today.
The nation’s hard-won freedom of speech was made possible due to the sacrifice of individuals like Deng, Hsu said, urging people to defend it with “all our strength.”
More information about the events can be found at www.228.org.tw or www.moi.gov.tw.
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
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
RSS