The Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例) and the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例) sounded the death knell for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). One deprived it of its assets; the other shattered its claim to legitimacy. Having lost its foundation and superstructure, the KMT party-state system is finally falling apart. The question now is how the party is dealing with this change.
On Nov. 24, its 123rd anniversary, the KMT organized a mourning event for the dying party at which five of its former chairpeople — Lien Chan (連戰), Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and Eric Chu (朱立倫) — along with KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) sang the National Flag Anthem. With their mournful and sorrowful looks, they all looked as if they were singing a funeral dirge.
Given the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) legislative majority, passing these two acts was not difficult; the difficulty is enforcing them and delivering on President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) pledge “to this land and its people.”
Transitional justice is far more difficult than handling illegal party assets, and includes many political challenges. The focus now must not be on the empty threats of Wu Den-yih, Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) and their ilk, but on whether the DPP will flinch, say one thing and do another, or if it has the courage and ability to follow through.
The transitional justice act has just been passed, but the government is already making blind statements. This is worrying for several reasons.
Veterans Affairs Council Director Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙) is openly resisting, saying: “Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) statues, pictures and other commemorative installations at veterans’ homes will not be removed as a result of the transitional justice act.”
The elimination of authoritarian symbols is already enshrined in law, but Lee is still talking about “the honorable Chiang (蔣公),” as if he were publicly trying to undermine the law. Is the DPP’s legislation fake?
Second, will all the 196 Zhongzheng (中正) roads and streets in Taiwan and the 30 schools called Zhongzheng or Jieshou (介壽) — both referring to Chiang Kai-shek — have to change their names? Of course they will, that is just following the law.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) is interpreting the law to lessen the blow, saying that “the names of roads and schools have existed for decades. They represent this road or that school and have created an emotional bond with local residents and alumni. There is no way they can be changed just like that.”
The transitional justice act clearly specifies that the authoritarian period began in August 1945 and that it will resolve decades of authoritarianism. Should emotional bonds be allowed to override the law?
The authoritarian party-state has ceased to exist and the only thing remaining are its symbols. If the nation cannot rid itself of these symbols, how can it rid itself of the authoritarianism they represent?
Third, some family members of 228 Massacre victims are using the excuse of a waste of public resources to delay the renaming of streets. What are they talking about? If the nation is to implement transitional justice, of course there is a price to be paid. Why else would it be necessary to pass legislation to do so?
Finally, Chiayi Mayor Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲), of the DPP, said that the city would not change the name of Zhongzheng Road “for the time being;” Changhua County Commissioner Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷), of the DPP, said that he would “listen to what the public have to say;” and Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), also of the DPP, said that the “Cihu Memorial Sculpture Park will not be closed.”
There is a law in place, and city mayors and county commissioners should simply implement it. What is this talk of “not for the time being” and “listening to what the public have to say” and not closing Cihu park? Not making these changes breaks the law and carries a fine, and not only that, city residents can file lawsuits.
According to the transitional justice act, only the Transitional Justice Promotion Committee (促進轉型正義委員會) can make the decision to preserve historic relics representing injustice, and it is not something that local government heads — in particular members of the DPP — can interfere with at will.
The ill-gotten party asset and the transitional justice acts are key to unlocking the doors of the party-state cesspool.
Since Pandora’s box has already been opened, the DPP has no choice but to push forward.
Chin Heng-wei is a political commentator.
Translated by Tu Yu-an and Perry Svensson
Taiwan-India relations appear to have been put on the back burner this year, including on Taiwan’s side. Geopolitical pressures have compelled both countries to recalibrate their priorities, even as their core security challenges remain unchanged. However, what is striking is the visible decline in the attention India once received from Taiwan. The absence of the annual Diwali celebrations for the Indian community and the lack of a commemoration marking the 30-year anniversary of the representative offices, the India Taipei Association and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center, speak volumes and raise serious questions about whether Taiwan still has a coherent India
Recent media reports have again warned that traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies are disappearing and might vanish altogether within the next 15 years. Yet viewed through the broader lens of social and economic change, the rise and fall — or transformation — of industries is rarely the result of a single factor, nor is it inherently negative. Taiwan itself offers a clear parallel. Once renowned globally for manufacturing, it is now best known for its high-tech industries. Along the way, some businesses successfully transformed, while others disappeared. These shifts, painful as they might be for those directly affected, have not necessarily harmed society
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) on Monday rebuked seven Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers for stalling a special defense budget and visiting China. The legislators — including Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), Yeh Yuan-chih (葉元之) and Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) — attended an event in Xiamen, China, over the weekend hosted by the Xiamen Taiwan Businessmen Association, where they met officials from Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO). “Weng’s decision to stall the special defense budget defies majority public opinion,” Wu said, accusing KMT legislators of acting as proxies for Beijing. KMT Legislator Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), acting head of the party’s Culture and Communications
Legislators of the opposition parties, consisting of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), on Friday moved to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德). They accused Lai of undermining the nation’s constitutional order and democracy. For anyone who has been paying attention to the actions of the KMT and the TPP in the legislature since they gained a combined majority in February last year, pushing through constitutionally dubious legislation, defunding the Control Yuan and ensuring that the Constitutional Court is unable to operate properly, such an accusation borders the absurd. That they are basing this
RSS