Starting today, Academia Historica is to begin enforcing access restrictions to its collections and records to prohibit access by Chinese, Academia Historica director and historian Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) said.
Wu said that access would be granted after application in accordance with the law, which requires that the applicant is a Republic of China national — a restriction stipulated by the Freedom of Government Information Act (政府資訊公開法).
Wu said that some of the documents are confidential and that is why access is restricted.
A number of laws and policies govern access to the records, such as the Freedom of Government Information Act, the Archives Act (檔案法), the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法), the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) and the Presidential and Vice Presidential Records and Artifacts Act (總統副總統文物管理條例), Wu said.
Wu said that people used to be granted immediate access to documents on arrival, allowing them to read and copy documents on the spot, adding that on appointment to his position he realized that the unimpeded access was illegal.
“Given that the documents stored at Academia Historica potentially contain national secrets as well as personal information, it is necessary to evaluate a document before it is made public. We will implement a 15-day approval period, in accordance with National Archives Administration policy. We will be practical in our approach and in some instances access decisions might be made in one day,” he said.
Wu said that some changes in the policy would be beneficial, such as plans to scrap half-document limits on printing, limits to the number of documents that can be printed in one year and the introduction of a service to have documents printed and mailed.
Wu said that while access to Chinese would not be granted, he hoped that there could eventually be a “reciprocal records access agreement” with the Second Historical Archives of China in Nanjing.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of