REBUKE:Transitional justice seeks to correct injustices and restore history, a NPP lawmaker said after the league accused the government of attacking its rivals
Taipei Times
Date: Mar 09, 2017
By: Cheng Hung-ta and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The National Women’s League yesterday urged the government to exercise caution
National Women’s League standing committee member Tien Ling-ling addresses a tea party held in Taipei yesterday to celebrate Women’s Day, calling on the government not to oppress the group due to its past political stance. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
pursuing transitional justice, saying that it should not be used as a pretext to attack political rivals.
The remarks were part of a speech prepared by National Women’s League chairwoman Cecilia Koo (辜嚴倬雲), who asked league member Tien Ling-ling (田玲玲) to deliver the speech at a Taipei event celebrating International Women’s Day in her absence.
“If justice is defined as oppressing a competing political party or organizations that have once supported those parties with no regard for historical truth, then justice runs the risk of being unjust,” Tien said.
Tien said the league, which has dedicated to protecting women’s rights and helping the disadvantaged, was of the opinion that the pursuit of transitional justice should be free of selfish motives.
Established by former president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) wife, Soong Mayling (宋美齡), in 1950 and headed by her for decades, the league has seen its assets under government scrutiny, as its activities benefited from its close ties to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Much of its funding came from the Military Benefit Tax, which was levied on the US dollar value of all imported goods between 1955 and 1989. [FULL STORY]
