Life

Taipei City, NTU to commemorate Taiwan democracy pioneers

• Publication Date：06/20/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  June Tsai

The Taipei City Council and National Taiwan University have approved separate steps to commemorate democracy pioneers Cheng Nan-jung and Chen Wen-chen, respectively.

The council approved a proposal June 19 to designate Alley 3, Lane 106, Minquan East Road, where a memorial museum for Cheng is located, as “Freedom Alley.”

The municipal Department of Civil Affairs’ proposal was a response to calls from the museum and Democratic Progressive Party city councilors to honor Cheng, who committed suicide in 1989 in protest over restrictions on freedom of expression.

Cheng led the publication of the dissident Freedom Era Weekly magazine beginning in 1984. He set himself on fire as heavily armed police attempted to break into his office following 71 days of self-imposed incarceration after he was charged with sedition for anti-government views presented in the magazine, in particular the publication of a draft “Republic of Taiwan Constitution” in 1988.

According to the department, a Freedom Alley sign will be put up to indicate the significance of the location, but the official name of the alley will not be changed.

At an NTU university affairs meeting June 17, the student association proposed that a monument be erected to the memory of Chen, who was found dead on campus July 3, 1981. Agents of the now-defunct Taiwan Garrison Command had taken him from his brother-in-law’s home on the morning of July 2 for questioning regarding donations to a dissident magazine.

Chen was an NTU alumnus and professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the U.S. An official investigation concluded that his death was due to suicide or accident in a jump or fall from a university building.

The proposal for a monument was supported by more than 6,000 online signatures, a student representative said. “Erecting a memorial would give silenced history a chance to speak out, and help us learn from it.”

Faculty members in favor of the move said a monument would be of educational value to students, reminding them of the country’s struggle for democracy, while opponents argued that politics should be kept separate from academia.

The meeting voted to turn the proposal over to the NTU History Gallery for further study to determine the best means of incorporating the Chen case, as well as events involving other important faculty and alumni, into school history. (THN)