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Ko Wen-je's New Book Sparks "Rewriting History" Accusations from New Power Party

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Taiwan's New Power Party (NPP) criticizes Ko Wen-je's new book, accusing him of "rewriting history" regarding the 2018 Labor Standards Act protests.
  • Ko defends his book, stating it objectively presents facts and calls the criticism "unnecessary political attacks."
  • The controversy centers on differing accounts of who participated and left the protest early, with Ko claiming he stayed until the end and visited hospitalized colleagues.

A new book by Taiwan People's Party Chairman Ko Wen-je has ignited a political firestorm, with the New Power Party (NPP) accusing him of historical revisionism. Ko's book, "Moving Forward Towards the Light" (ๅ‘ๅ…‰ๅ‰่กŒ), recounts his involvement in the 2018 protests against the Labor Standards Act amendments when he led the NPP. The NPP, however, contends that Ko's portrayal distorts the events and demands he apologize and withdraw the book.

The content in the book is objectively presented. Sudden political attacks are unnecessary.

โ€” Ko Wen-jeDefending his new book against accusations of historical distortion.

NPP Chairwoman Wang Wan-yu directly criticized Ko, stating his account "rewrites history." She demanded an apology and the book's removal from circulation. In response, Ko defended his writing, asserting that the content is "objective" and that the criticisms constitute "unnecessary political attacks." He claimed that he remained at the protest site until the end and later walked to National Taiwan University Hospital to check on colleagues who had been hospitalized, only to find they had already left.

The NPP condemns the 'rewriting of history' and demands an apology and immediate withdrawal of the book.

โ€” New Power Party StatementStating the NPP's official position on Ko Wen-je's book.

The dispute specifically targets Ko's description of his former NPP colleagues, including Freddy Lim and Hung Tzu-yung, who Ko alleges "left early" during the protest. Hung's husband, New Taipei City Councilor Cho Chuan-ting, refuted Ko's claim, stating that Hung was suffering from a miscarriage at the time and still participated in the street protest. Ko dismissed this, saying he, as an outsider, would not know such private details and that Cho's statement was untrue.

The content in the book is all objective facts. It should not be used to launch political attacks.

โ€” Ko Wen-jeReiterating his defense of the book's factual accuracy.

Ko further argued that the NPP's current stance, led by Wang who he claims did not participate in the 2018 protests, is unfounded. He believes the historical records, including media reports and live broadcasts, provide a complete picture of the events. Ko expressed regret over the political attacks, stating that while politics involves human nature, the distortion of his book's objective content is regrettable. He questioned the NPP's insistence on an apology for events they seemingly have limited direct knowledge of.

Such private matters, how could I as an outsider know the details? His statement is completely untrue.

โ€” Ko Wen-jeResponding to claims about Hung Tzu-yung's health condition during the protest.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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