Chiang diaries could be made public

The diaries of former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) could be released to the public as long as the contents are not misused, a family member said yesterday.

"Under the condition that [the diaries] would be presented in an objective manner and given fair appreciation, we would be willing to disclose both of their diaries to the public at a time we deem appropriate," said Chiang Fang Chih-yi (蔣方智怡), the widow of the younger Chiang's third son, Chiang Hsiao-yung (蔣孝勇).

Chiang Fang Chih-yi made the remarks in response to calls, made at a KMT symposium she was attending, for the Chiang families to disclose the diaries.

Chen San-ching (陳三井), a research fellow at the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica, urged the diaries be disclosed for research purposes.

Compared with China, or even the DPP, which have both placed importance on compiling chronicles of important figures and party histories, the KMT has done very little, Chen said.

"I'd like to therefore urge the Chiang families to disclose the diaries for research purposes as well to correct any unbalanced remarks made by some people," he said.

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) is sorting out his diaries that cover his time as vice president under Chiang. Titled President Chiang Ching-kuo and I, the book is slated to be published in March.

Some KMT members have since urged the families of Chiang Ching-kuo to release his diaries to verify statements made by Lee in his book.

While the families know that they have a responsibility to inform the public by disclosing the diaries, Chiang Fang Chih-yi said, they wanted assurances that these diaries won't be misused.

"It is easy to just release the diaries. However, as a diary is private, we need to know how these diaries would be used if they were to be disclosed," she said.

She said that Chiang Ching-kuo chose Lee to be his vice president because of Lee's anti-independence stand.

Chiang Ching-kuo was particularly impressed by a report Lee delivered in 1983, according to Chiang Fang Chih-yi.

In his report, Lee, then head of the Taiwan Provincial Government, denounced calls for independence, saying, "China has never forsaken Taiwan and therefore Taiwan should by no means forget China either."

Chiang Fang Chih-yi said that her husband had once told her that in Chiang Ching-kuo's view, it was former premier Sun Yun-suan (孫運璿), and not Lee, whom Chiang Ching-kuo considered to be the ideal candidate as the nation's future leader.

"To Chiang Ching-kuo, the political right-hand man is the premier and not the vice president, whose position, although prestigious, holds little authority," she said.

KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) was then the talent painstakingly cultivated by Chiang Ching-kuo because in Chiang Ching-kuo's view, "Lien Chen-tung (連震東) is a decent guy and thus his education of Lien Chan must be through [proper] Chinese thought as well."

Lien Chen-tung, a major figure in the land reform movement after the KMT government relocated to Taiwan, was the father of Lien Chan.