After coming under a great deal of pressure, the government has resumed its flagging push for transitional justice.
The National Human Rights Museum Organic Act (國家人權博物館組織法) on Nov. 28 passed its third legislative reading, while the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例) passed its third reading on Dec. 5.
In addition, the National Archives in a news release said that it has set up a “political archive area” in response to the government’s push for transitional justice, making 100,000 pages of political files publicly available online.
Opening and making an inventory of political files is a necessary step. The authorities should use this as an opportunity to carry out a comprehensive review of the past policy of keeping files classified.
In addition to files at the National Archives Administration, there is another batch of political archives that has been transferred to the Academia Historica from the Presidential Office.
These files have existed for more than 30 — and sometimes even 40 — years, but some of them have still not been made available to the public.
Such archives include files related to the Taiwan Independence Party’s activities in Japan, pro-independence advocate Peng Ming-min’s (彭明敏) and others’ actions in the US and the overseas activities of dangwai (黨外, outside the party) organizations, as well as questioning and suggestions in relation to the 1979 Kaohsiung incident. There are even files related to the 1981 death of academic Chen Wen-cheng (陳文成).
The Academia Historica had previously submitted a written request to the Presidential Office requesting declassification of the files, but the Presidential Office’s Second Bureau on July 16, 2009 — during then-president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) presidency — ordered it not to declassify the documents before Jan. 23, 2019, when the issue would be reviewed again.
The reason behind the decision is unknown, but it reveals the conservative nature of the Ma administration and its unwillingness to face historical truths.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her administration say that the basis of transitional justice must be the opening of political files — so is there anything to learn from the Ma administration on the matter?
Since Tsai on several occasions has reiterated her administration’s determination to make an inventory of and open political files, the Presidential Office should do so for the documents that were blocked by the Ma administration.
The government would be setting a good example of how to make political archives publicly available by publishing these files online.
Chen Yu-chi is a doctoral student in the Graduate Institute of Taiwan History at National Chengchi University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS