INCUBATOR:The Union of Taiwanese Laborers fostered many labor rights supporters, with many of its members later serving in the KMT’s Chinese Federation of Labor

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 11, 2016
By: Wong Yu-huang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

When asked about labor rights and labor care in Taiwan, many people think of the wave of labor movements that followed the lifting of martial law and the recently resurfaced awareness of labor rights after the Democratic Progressive Party assumed office, but few remember that the labor rights movement in Taiwan started under Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水), who led farmers and workers to demand their rights during the Japanese colonial era.

The National Taiwan Library and the Chiang Wei-shui Cultural Foundation are this year holding an exhibition on the 85th anniversary of Chiang’s passing featuring 15 oil paintings by Chiang, as well as other historical documents and materials related to Chiang provided by the library.

According to Taiwanese history professor Chen Shih-jung (陳世榮), Law No. 63 of the Japanese government during its colonial rule gave the Japanese governor the authority to issue orders that would be equivalent to laws, which would later being sent to the Imperial Diet for ratification.

Not only was the law controversial in Japan, as some said it might be unconstitutional under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, it essentially placed Taiwanese under Japanese rule on a social strata inferior to Japanese, Chen said, adding that Chiang stood up for the rights of Taiwanese.     [FULL  STORY]