President Tsai Ing-wen (left) presents the certificate of exoneration of recently deceased former "White Terror" era political prisoner Tsai Kun-lin to the latter's son, mathematics professor Tsai Yen-lung (right), at a ceremony in Taipei Saturday.
resident Tsai Ing-wen (center) pose with exonerated human rights advocate Lu Chien-hsing (left) and Tsai Yen-lung (right), son of late political prisoner Tsai Kun-lin, at a ceremony to exonerate individuals persecuted during Taiwan's authoritarian period
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) paid tribute to the recently deceased former "White Terror" era political prisoner Tsai Kun-lin (蔡焜霖) on Saturday at a ceremony in Taipei to exonerate individuals persecuted during Taiwan's authoritarian period.
It is "regrettable that Tsai Kun-lin could not be here today," the president said of the 92-year-old who passed away on Sept.3 after a short hospitalization, during an event attended by around 100 White Terror victims and their family members.
"But his spirit and legacy will continue to guide us on the path of safeguarding Taiwan's democracy," the president added.
Tsai Kun-lin was among the first batch of political prisoners sent to a labor reform camp on Green Island, where he spent 10 years, Tsai said.
But the dark prison did not devour him, she went on, noting that after his release, he moved on to found a magazine, supported the country's youth baseball team, and took part in activities promoting human rights.
Tsai Kun-lin was charged with treason as a 20-year-old civil servant by the then-Kuomintang (KMT) authoritarian government over his previous membership in a high school reading group.
After his release in 1960, he married and went to work in advertising, later moving into publishing and founding "Prince," a renowned children's magazine, in 1966. In 1968, he used the magazine to solicit donations for the Taitung Red Leaves youth baseball team, whose subsequent victory over a Japanese team was credited with sparking baseball's ascent into Taiwan's national pastime.
In his later years, Tsai Kun-lin devoted himself to the promotion of human rights and the history of the White Terror era - a period of political repression by the KMT government from 1949-1992 -- in Taiwan.
Saturday's event, which has been held more regularly following the passing of the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice in 2017, marked the exoneration of 1,439 people whom the government confirmed to be the victims of judicial and administrative wrongdoings during the period of authoritarian rule.
Tsai Kun-lin's son Tsai Yen-lung (蔡炎龍), a mathematics professor, received the certificate of exoneration on behalf of his father from President Tsai at the ceremony and read out the unfinished text his father had prepared to deliver.
According to Tsai Yen-lung, his father had been very dedicated to promoting the understanding of the White Terror period in Taiwan and transitional justice over the past few years, with the hope that future generations would not repeat that part of the history again.
He had hoped that young people would be able to pursue their dreams and explore their own meanings of life without having to worry about facing punishment from authorities, Tsai Yen-lung added.
Apart from Tsai Kun-lin, writer and human rights advocate Lu Chien-hsing (呂建興), who is also known as Lu Yu (呂昱), also received a certificate, which he said served as a consolation to the victims and their families having long lived under the shadow of political violence.
Describing the work of transitional justice as "a race against time," Lu urged the government to "speed up" efforts to restore the reputation of people politically persecuted during the White Terror era and award compensation to victims and their surviving relatives.
Lu was arrested and given a life sentence when he was 19 years old over his involvement in student activism, and he was eventually released after serving 15 years in prison.
The years behind bars, nevertheless, did not suppress his desire to engage in activism, and he continued to take part in pro-democracy activities after being set free, while at the same time publishing several literary and nonfiction works.
The ceremony was co-hosted by the Restoration of Victim's Rights Infringed by Illegal Acts of the State During the Period of Authoritarian Rule Foundation under the Ministry of the Interior, a new agency established in February as the result of the dissolution of the Transitional Justice Commission last May.
In addition to the 1,439 cases of exoneration, the foundation said Saturday it had also confirmed 781 claims of compensation by White Terror victims as of now, awarding damages of about NT$2.2 billion (US$68.56 million) in total.
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