Efforts to achieve transitional justice by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government have not gone far enough, said Peter Pan (潘信行), whose father was executed by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government during the 228 Incident.
The 228 Incident refers to a crackdown launched by the then-KMT regime against civilian demonstrations following an incident in Taipei on Feb. 27, 1947.
The event marked the beginning of what is known as the 228 Massacre and led to the White Terror era, which saw thousands of Taiwanese arrested, imprisoned and executed.
Photo: CNA
Pan’s father, then-city councilor Pan Mu-chih (潘木枝), negotiated with KMT troops on behalf of Chiayi’s 228 Settlement Committee, but was detained during the talks and executed in front of Chiayi Railway Station on March 25, 1947.
“All evidence indicates that Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was responsible for 228, but his giant statue is still housed in a memorial hall” in Taipei, Peter Pan said in an interview on Monday. “That is just rubbing it in for the family.”
Allowing the statue and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to remain as it is means that the DPP has “only done half a good deed,” he added.
Taiwan should approach the matter of Chiang’s statue through legislation, he said, adding that the memorial hall should be renamed and given back to the people, who funded its construction with their taxes.
Lin Li-tsai (林黎彩), whose father, Lin Chieh (林界), was also executed during the 228 Incident, said that as long as Chiang’s statue remains in the hall, “there will never be transitional justice.”
Removing the statue would be the “most meaningful thing” the government could do for the families of 228 victims, Lin Li-tsai said.
Tseng Chien-chun (曾建鈞), an official at the Cabinet’s Department of Human Rights and Transitional Justice Office, said that the Ministry of Culture, tasked with the transformation of the hall, could adopt “interim measures” in the absence of a legislative amendment.
The measures could include canceling the nine daily “changing of the guard” ceremonies inside the building and ridding the site of symbols idolizing Chiang so that it could be redesigned to include concepts of transitional justice, Tseng said.
Wu Rwei-ren (吳叡人), an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica, said that transitional justice is a delicate matter that must be handled carefully.
People are divided over Chiang’s legacy, and those who have favorable opinions about it should also be respected, Wu said.
As with many historical figures, Chiang had his faults, but also contributed to society, he said.
“Did Chiang send in the troops, impose martial law and implement a reign of terror?” he asked. “Of course — these are generally accepted facts, but at the same time, some credit him with safeguarding Taiwan during the Cold War and, with the help of the US, keeping the Chinese Communist Party forces at bay.”
More work should be done to expose perpetrators, Wu said, adding that this is the “weakest link” since Taiwan began its quest for transitional justice in the 1990s.
Ordinarily, work to pursue transitional justice is initiated by presidents of pro-democracy camps, as was the case in South Africa, Germany and Latin America, he said.
However, in Taiwan, when former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), a member of the “old forces,” began taking steps toward transitional justice, he was leading an administration riddled with perpetrators, Wu said.
“Obviously, [Lee] could not purge his own troops and special agents, so he implemented compromise measures, including by identifying victims,” Wu said.
Since then, many of the perpetrators of violence during the 228 Incident and the White Terror era have died, so they cannot be held responsible for their actions, which is why the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has not named more perpetrators or removed the Chiang statue, despite being in office for eight years, he added.
Even so, the government should disclose the names of perpetrators and their wrongdoings, so at the very least there would be “historical justice,” Wu said.
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