The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would deeply reflect on the past and has the courage to take on this responsibility, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) today said on social media about the 228 Incident.
It is important to be honest and humble when reflecting on historical events, he said in a social media post.
Standing at a crossroads in history, he said he commemorated the 228 Incident with a heavy heart.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Nationalist Party via CNA
He called for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to forgo politics and listen to the people as history and memories should bring reflections and unity, instead of hatred and confrontation.
It is time to heal and move forward, he said.
Former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) also said in a social media post that she admitted the party bears historical responsibility, and yet the diversity of historical truth should be revealed.
As somebody with relatives who were victims of the White Terror, she said she felt tremendous pain about the harm caused by state violence.
“The tragedy was not a simple confrontation between ‘waishengren’ and ‘benshengren.’ They were both victims. The number of victims represents lives that had been lived and embodies irremediable trauma,” she said.
“Waishengren” (外省人) refers to Chinese mainlanders who emigrated to Taiwan with the KMT in the 1940s and their descendants, while “benshengren” (本省人) refers to early immigrants from China who arrived before Japanese colonization and their descendants.
Society can only move forward when different communities recognize their discrepancy in how they perceive each other and understand the pain each other has suffered, she said.
“History can be forgiven but not forgotten,” Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said today at a commemoration for the 228 Incident at the 228 Peace Memorial Park in Kaohsiung where victims and their families were commemorated through a moment of silence and placing white flowers.
“Our democratic freedoms are thanks to the efforts of those who came before us and we must continue to persevere and move forward,” Chen said.
“I hope that political leaders across parties will put aside their differences to protect Taiwan’s hard-earned democracy, freedoms and values,” he said.
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
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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
RSS