The Ministry of Justice has once again recommended Lin Hui-huang (林輝煌) for a seat on the Council of Grand Justices. My first reaction was that a president who is already involved in a case of leaking information and suspected of involvement in political donation irregularities has lost legitimacy and should voluntarily restrict his powers. However, the public reaction focused on the suitability of a military prosecutor in the trials stemming from the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident serving as a grand justice.
These are two different concerns. The former focuses on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and takes the view that he should show self-restraint, as his rule has lost legitimacy, while the latter touches on two longstanding sensitive issues. I think of these issues as “the animosity of those who were not the perpetrators” and “the hatred of those who were not the victims.”
Not long ago, Storm Media Group editor-in-chief Wu Tien-jung (吳典蓉) published an article with the headline: “Who turned the military prosecutor of the Kaohsiung Incident into a hero?” Having read it, I could not agree more.
It is like Wu says: Taiwan’s democratic transition was a peaceful and unbloody revolution. The perpetrators are seen as initiating democracy, while transitional justice has been abandoned to avoid hurting people’s feelings. The result is that a lid has been put on the truth, which means that right and wrong is being confused. This confusion is frequently used in election campaigns and it is tearing society apart.
After World War II, sovereignty over Taiwan was once again transferred to another party and during 40 long years of authoritarian rule, there were many brave protesters and cruel perpetrators. However, after 70 years of coexisting in Taiwan, the first generation of protesters and perpetrators have disappeared, and the second and third generations are now adults. Almost every family now has descendants of people from China or “Japanese subjects,” either by blood or by marriage.
Most of the time, hatred and animosity stemming from past events is unnoticeable, but at politically sensitive times, in particular during election campaigns, politicians and parties make use of them. The animosity clearly only comes from the descendants of the perpetrators who, having been indoctrinated with ill feelings toward their opponents, bring up their hatred of the protesters of the past. Likewise, hatred clearly does not come from the people who were persecuted many years ago, but still, anger toward those who brought persecution is heard.
In areas where a lot of military personnel and police live, non-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidates often do not win a single vote. When I was working for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), it was common not to win a single vote in veterans’ villages. That is why former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) played to animosity toward “those who were not the perpetrators” with his talk about “Stalingrad” and “imperial subjects” when the KMT Taipei mayoral candidate was doing badly in the run-up to last year’s nine-in-one elections.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), on the other hand, who never talks about political persecution, revealed — perhaps unintentionally — that his grandfather was detained during the 228 Incident, playing to the hatred of “those who are not the victims” by recalling the past.
The situation in Taiwan today was well described by Czech writer Milan Kundera when he said: That which is false is always more extreme than the real thing, and more thorough.
The two sources of animosity are sensitive issues in Taiwanese society. It would not pay to be overly optimistic and say “that old stuff” is no longer important. Just look at what happened in the wake of the Sunflower movement. As Taiwanese awareness surged, the issues from history were not drowned out, but surged with it. It is important to understand that transitional justice must not be muddled.
Last year’s elections and Lin’s nomination show that if the things that happened during the 20th century are not faced head-on and dealt with appropriately, they will continue to have an effect, which will have repercussions for Taiwan and in the handling of cross-strait relations.
Many years ago, I was invited to address the inauguration ceremony for the Weeping Tablet on Green Island. I remember that — facing both those in power and people affected by government crackdowns — I concluded by saying that no ruler has the right to demand that people abandon their sadness, but those who are wronged have a sacred mission to light the fire of forgiveness.
Taiwan has yet to be healed and everyone must continue their efforts to make that happen.
Shih Ming-te is a long-time political activist and chairman of the Shih Ming-te Foundation. A founding member of the Democratic Progressive Party, he resigned from the party in November 2000.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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