Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-17
President Tsai Ing-wen on Sunday attended a concert in honor of two pioneers of
President Tsai Ing-wen (sixth from right) attended a concert in honor of two Taiwanese democracy pioneers on Sunday; she was joined by Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (fifth from right) and former DPP Chairperson Hsu Hsin-liang (fourth from right) among others. (CNA photo)
Taiwan’s democracy. The two notable figures are Yu Teng-fa, who is a former county commissioner of the now-defunct Kaohsiung County, and his daughter-in-law Yu Chen Yueh-ying, who held the same position, and was Taiwan’s first female county commissioner.
In a speech at Sunday’s event, President Tsai said that there are many more stories of Taiwan’s democratic development that are worth seeking out and sharing. She said that every time these stories are told, they solidify the Taiwanese people’s identity as a democratic and free people.
Yu Teng-fa’s term as Kaohiung County chief began in 1960, during Taiwan’s decades-long martial law period. He was thrown in jail in the early 1970s for political reasons. After his release, he was again convicted of political crimes in 1979. That year, crowds took to the streets to protest on Yu’s behalf in what is now known as the “Chiao-tou Incident”. The list of people who came out in his support reads like a who’s-who of Taiwan’s best known opposition politicians, many of whom are heavyweights in President Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party. [FULL STORY]