The Executive Yuan is to immediately establish an ad hoc commission for the promotion of transitional justice to disclose historical data and remove authoritarian symbols, Premier William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.
The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday approved the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例) and Lai yesterday instructed Minister Without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) to establish such a committee by nominating a list of members, drafting the organizational regulations and planning a budget.
“The establishment has to be completed in the shortest time possible to meet public expectations for transitional justice and reconciliation,” Lai said.
Photo: CNA
The passage of the act is a milestone in the nation’s democracy and has pivotal importance in the nation’s history, he said.
The committee would be responsible for making political archives available, removing authoritarian symbols, redressing judicial injustice and investigating political persecution, Lai said.
Asked if roads and schools named after former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) would be renamed, and coins and notes bearing his portraits recalled following the act’s passage, Lai said the committee would have sole discretion.
“It will be fully authorized to make investigations, file reports and make [decisions],” Lai said.
Before the committee is established, it is premature to comment on the treatment of symbols of Chiang, he said.
Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said the establishment of the committee would not be as swift as was the case with the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, because its members did not need to be approved by the Legislative Yuan while transitional justice committee nominees do.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Office said it is illogical to debate whether roads and schools should be renamed until the truth about the nation’s history is understood.
Following the passage of the act, some people have deliberately misinterpreted it and spread misinformation that the government is planning to redesign the nation’s currency, and rename roads and schools, the office said.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said there are multiple ways to remove authoritarian symbols, including simple removal and renaming as well as preservation and reconstruction.
The act requires the government to investigate improper criminal proceedings and human rights violations during the authoritarian era and to reinstate the rights and reputations of victims of political persecution, Huang said.
That work would be undertaken by the transitional justice committee, Huang said.
“There should be a list of priorities. Before the investigation of historical truth is completed, before the responsibilities for improper criminal proceedings and human rights violations are ascertained, how can any measures [such as renaming schools] be put forward?” he said.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he