Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-07-07
The majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will hold events next week to mark the 30th
DPP to celebrate 30th anniversary of end of martial law.
anniversary of the end of martial law in Taiwan. They include a music festival and the screening of a film about the party’s history. The events will kick off next Friday in Taichung.
Thirty-eight years of martial law ended in 1987 under the late president Chiang Ching-kuo. Chiang’s Kuomintang (KMT) imposed the ban in May 1949 as KMT troops retreated to Taiwan in the last stages of the Chinese civil war.
DPP secretary-general Hung Yao-fu said the lifting of martial law was a milestone in Taiwan’s democratic development. Hung said martial law was lifted not as a friendly gesture by those in power at the time. He said it was rather the result of the struggle and sacrifice of democracy activists.
Music will feature prominently in the events because many songs were banned by the KMT at that time for being “politically sensitive.” Hung said the DPP wants to use music to pay tribute to those who have contributed to Taiwan’s democracy. [FULL STORY]
