45th Anniversary of Chen Wen-chen Incident: NTU Students Hold Evening Event to Promote Transitional Justice

(Central News Agency, reporter Chen Chih-chung, Taipei, July 3) This year marks the 45th anniversary of the "Chen Wen-chen Incident." Several student organizations and civic groups held an evening event on the National Taiwan University (NTU) campus, hoping to promote public participation and transitional justice within the campus by reflecting on history.

Chen Wen-chen was an alumnus of NTU's Department of Mathematics. While studying in the United States, he actively supported the democracy movement. Upon returning to Taiwan to visit relatives in 1981, he was summoned by the Garrison Command. Later, his body was discovered next to the NTU Graduate Student Library. The truth has still not been fully revealed. In February 2021, NTU unveiled a memorial plaza and installed a cubic artwork made of black marble titled "Emptiness" to commemorate the Chen Wen-chen Incident.

The organizers issued a press release today stating that the memorial event on the 2nd was organized by the NTU Graduate Students Association and the NTU Student Union's Transitional Justice Task Force, with the Chen Wen-chen Foundation and the Chen Wen-chen Foundation USA as co-organizers. During the memorial evening, singer Ai Wen performed Chen Wen-chen's favorite song, "Harbor Night Rain," and Chen Wen-chen's brother-in-law, Dai Hsien-ming, played the violin rendition of "Song of a Thousand Winds," hoping that the historical truth will one day be known to the world.

Chou Wan-yao, professor emeritus of NTU's Department of History, pointed out that it has been 45 years since Chen Wen-chen's "assisted suicide." If he were still alive, he would be 76 years old this year and undoubtedly a scholar with profound knowledge. She thanked the NTU students and advocates for their efforts in creating a transitional justice landscape within the NTU campus and expressed hope for more memorial landmarks for the February 28 Incident and the White Terror era at NTU.

Li Cheng-ai, a student from NTU's Department of History and the host, stated that it took student organizations 10 years of advocacy to have Chen Wen-chen's name appear on the NTU campus as a memorial to resisting "state violence." She expressed her grief that the authoritarian government at the time has still not apologized for the Chen Wen-chen Incident. Forty-five years later, the relay race of the democratization movement initiated by many predecessors must continue to be passed on from generation to generation.

Wang Yi-ting, who will soon assume the presidency of the NTU Graduate Students Association, said that many of her peers have been continuously concerned about various issues, including transitional justice, since high school. As NTU approaches its centennial anniversary, there are more stories worth discussing and exploring, and public participation can begin on campus.

Yang Huang Mei-hsing, chairperson of the Chen Wen-chen Foundation, stated that all autocratic regimes in the world want to erase people's memories and make them lose their language. She looks forward to more historical landscapes in various parts of Taiwan in the future, similar to the "Ting Yao-tiao Tree" at Tainan Girls' Senior High School, so that students and the public can learn about Taiwan's history and suffering without necessarily having to visit memorial museums.

Tsai Pei-hsueh, vice dean of student affairs at NTU, said that NTU strongly supports students in exploring various important issues that have occurred on campus, in Taiwan, and in the world. He also encourages teachers and students to understand the historical truth of events that have occurred on campus and, through in-depth practical research, to prevent unfortunate incidents from happening again. (Editor: Chang Ming-kun) 1150703

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