Premier William Lai (賴清德) is expected to nominate Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee member Hua Yih-fen (花亦芬) and 228 Incident expert Chen Tsui-lien (陳翠蓮), among others, for the nine-member transitional justice promotion committee, a government official familiar with the matter said.
Hua and Chen teach history at National Taiwan University. Hua has written a Chinese-language book on Germany’s experience with transitional justice, titled Reborn from the Wounds of History: Transitional Justice in Germany after 1945 and 1990 (在歷史的傷口上重生：德國走過的轉型正義之路).
They are both appropriate candidates, the source said, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
It would be reasonable to transfer Hua from the assets committee to the transitional justice committee, the source said.
When asked for comment, Chen said that she was previously consulted about the positioning, role and other aspects of the transitional justice committee, as well as her expectations for it.
Asked whether she had been approached to serve as a committee member, she said it would be more suitable for the government to speak on the matter.
Hua also said she was consulted about the committee, but added that she had not discussed personnel arrangements.
Asked whether she would serve on the committee, Hua said she “could not respond at the moment.”
Some candidates are still making their final decision, another government official involved in the selection said.
The final list is yet to be confirmed, said the source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, refusing to confirm or deny rumors regarding potential candidates.
The nominations are to be announced together, they added.
The nominations, including for a chairperson and a deputy chairperson, are to be made by Lai and require legislative approval, according to the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例).
No more than three members may belong to the same political party and at least three people of each gender must be on the committee, according to the act.
A “representative from the victimizing party” should not be allowed on the committee, said Lin Li-tsai (林黎彩), daughter of a 228 Incident victim and 228 Memorial Foundation board member.
The government could invite representatives from the Democratic Progressive Party, the New Power Party, the Taiwan Solidarity Union and other groups with a “pro-localization consciousness” to serve on the committee, Lin said.
Putting both “representatives from the victimizing party” and family members of the victims on the committee could lead to controversy or opposition, the second source said.
In principle, no “representatives from the victimizing party” would join the committee, the source said, adding that the government needs to act as an intermediary and facilitate reconciliation in society.
The committee’s office is to be on Taipei’s Daan Road (大安路) at the former site of the National Audit Office’s training center and is to be staffed by 70 people, the source said.
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