The Ministry of Justice must address the case against democracy advocate Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), while the Executive Yuan must accelerate broader judicial reforms, including transitional justice education, groups told a news conference in Taipei yesterday, the 60th anniversary of the day Peng released A Declaration of Formosan Self-Salvation (台灣人民自救宣言).
Peng passed away on April, 8, 2022.
Peng in 1964 drafted the declaration with his students Hsieh Tsung-min (謝聰敏) and Wei Ting-chao (魏廷朝). The document called Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) dream of “retaking the mainland” unattainable, and advocated for “one Taiwan, one China,” a new constitution, joining the UN as Taiwan and creating a free nation.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Representatives of civic groups — including the Peng Ming-min Foundation, the Educational Foundation of Chung-Ming Hsieh, the Wei Ting-chao Human Rights, Culture and Education Association, and the National Taiwan University (NTU) Graduate Student Association School History Investigation Task Force — made three demands:
They called on the Ministry of Justice to reassess the case against Peng; the Executive Yuan to speed up the process of broader judicial and administrative redress; and for transitional justice education to be implemented and for the effects of the White Terror on campuses to be investigated.
During the White Terror era, Peng, Hsieh and Wei wrote the declaration, and advocated Taiwanese democracy and freedom, but faced a miscarriage of justice that has yet to be resolved, Peng Ming-min Foundation chairman Cheng Yi-ho (鄭義和) said.
The case still reverberates within academic circles and although Peng passed away more than two years ago, the ideals he stood for remain, Cheng said.
He called for an urgent redress and for government agencies to focus on transitional justice, not only in Peng’s case, but also the 20,000 students, teachers and others affected during the White Terror period.
“Time is the biggest enemy,” he said.
Educational Foundation of Chung-Ming Hsieh chairman Hsueh Han-chun (薛翰駿) said that the transitional justice commission — which was ended two years ago — should be reinstated and its responsibilities distributed among government agencies.
Although the Executive Yuan has passed the National Action Program for Transitional Justice Education (國家轉型正義教育綱領), the effects so far have been limited, said Hsu Kuan-tse (許冠澤), a member of the graduate student investigative team.
Whenever the state exonerates a student, revokes a guilty verdict or redresses a violation, the person’s school should be automatically notified, Hsu said.
The school can hold commemorative activities and use the event as an opportunity to educate students and professors, promote the broader goal of transitional justice education and shed light on the experiences of alumni, he said.
The foundation said that while Peng’s family has not yet submitted a petition to the Ministry of Justice to redress his case, the foundation in November last year submitted a petition, but has not yet received a response.
The foundation announced two activities to be held this week.
On Thursday a seminar is to commemorate Peng’s declaration and President William Lai (賴清德) has been invited speak at it, the foundation said.
The second event is a music festival to be held at the NTU School of Law, it said.
People who attend are invited to participate and deepen their understanding of transformational justice, it added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS