The Taiwan Statebuilding Party is to hold a memorial concert to mark the legacies of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at the Kaohsiung City Music Hall on Friday at 7pm.
“Taiwanese and Japanese will always remember these two great statesmen who have left us. For all of us, it is like losing an elder family member,” party Chairman Chen Yi-chi (陳奕齊) said yesterday as he announced the event.
The concert is to feature soprano Wu Chia-fen (吳佳芬) of the Vlaamse Opera in Belgium and a piano recital by Hsu Wei-en (徐惟恩), an assistant professor at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Tickets for the concert, themed “Their long-lasting will to safeguard democracy,” are free and can be obtained at the party’s office in Kaohsiung daily from 10am to 6pm, with a limit of two tickets per person, Chen said.
Taiwanese would like to commemorate Lee, “the father of Taiwan’s democracy,” along with his friend Abe, whose sudden death shocked the nation, Chen said.
“Under Lee’s leadership, Taiwan became a democracy and Taiwanese became confident calling the nation by its proper name,” he said.
“We have faced international isolation over many years,” Chen said. “Under Lee’s leadership, we stood up to China’s hegemony and military intimidation. We had no fear and did not back down. Lee facilitated the rebirth of Taiwanese identity, laying the foundation for our nation, but this goal is not yet fully realized.”
“With noble principles and strong determination, Lee had far-reaching influence, including in Japan. Abe and Lee had known each other for several decades, and they encouraged and inspired each other,” he said.
“Abe carried on Lee’s love for Taiwan. Abe pushed for Japan to become a recognized nation, while also advocating for permanent peace in East Asia. Taiwan has benefited from his vision and can play an important role in the regional peace framework,” Chen said.
“Now Taiwan and Japan have strong, friendly ties,” he said. “The two countries are part of a democratic alliance to counter China’s rising hegemony.”
“Therefore the Taiwan Statebuilding Party invites the public to join the concert in Kaohsiung, to consolidate the mutual friendship between Taiwan and Japan. We want to pay tribute and remember Lee’s and Abe’s legacies, as well as the contributions and sacrifices of other democracy pioneers,” Chen said.
“We shall carry on their unfinished work. The burden of history pushes us ahead on this path,” he added.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS