Following a report by the Control Yuan, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Military Intelligence Bureau agreed to declassify more than 379 items related to the 228 Incident and the White Terror era and to make them available to the public via the National Archive Administration, the Control Yuan said.
However, no timetable has been set for declassification, the Control Yuan added.
The decision came after the Control Yuan released the results of an investigation earlier this year calling on the bureau to review its position that the materials about the then-Taiwan Communist Party are to be kept confidential forever under Article 12 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法).
The article stipulates that any national security information regarding intelligence activities, sources or access shall remain classified permanently. That exempted the information from being made available to the public within 30 years.
According to the report, the bureau holds eight volumes of documents about Hsieh Hsueh-hung (謝雪紅) and six volumes about Tsai Hsiao-chien (蔡孝乾), both leaders of the then-Taiwan Communist Party, then a branch of the Japanese Communist Party, working to overthrow Japanese colonial rule and establish a communist republic of Taiwan through a people’s revolution.
The Taiwan Communist Party was controversially labeled as a group behind the 228 Incident by people who attributed the massacre not to the authoritarian rule of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, but to the Chinese Communist Party, to which they claimed the Taiwan Communist Party was connected.
Control Yuan members Lee Ping-nan (李炳南) and Chou Yang-shan (周陽山) looked into the case in response to a petition regarding a lack of official material about the role of Taiwan Communist Party members in the 228 Incident and White Terror era.
MND spokesman Major-General David Lo (羅紹和) said earlier this week that the ministry has already reviewed the classified archives and decided that 379 items could be transferred to the National Archive Administration, or about 90 percent of all items rgarding the Taiwan Communist Party.
Meanwhile, the report found that the Ministry of Justice, Investigation Bureau and some other subordinate agencies failed to make public materials related to political surveillance during the Martial Law period as required by law and urged the agencies to release the documents at the earliest possible.
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
The New Taipei City Government today warned about the often-overlooked dangers of playing in water, and recommended safe swimming destinations to cool off from the summer heat. The following locations in the city as safe and fun for those looking to enjoy the water: Chienshuiwan (淺水灣), Baishawan (白沙灣), Jhongjiao Bay (中角灣), Fulong Beach Resort (福隆海水浴場) and Sansia District’s (三峽) Dabao River (大豹溪), New Taipei City Tourism and Travel Department Director-General Yang Tsung-min (楊宗珉) said. Outdoor bodies of water have variables outside of human control, such as changing currents, differing elevations and environmental hazards, all of which can lead to accidents, Yang said. Sudden
FLOURISHING: Taiwan’s economic strength, shared values with allies, and cooperation in education and other fields should bolster diplomatic relations, an envoy to the UN said Guatemala, Haiti and the Marshall Islands would continue to support Taiwan to become an observer in the WHO by foregrounding its edge in healthcare, Guatemalan Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Jose Francisco Cali Tzay said at a meeting with Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Han met with delegates of Taiwan’s allied countries at the UN alongside Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Chien-chi (林倩綺), Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) and Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Liu Shu-pin (劉書彬). Attendees included Tzay, Haitian Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Ann-Kathryne Lassegue and Marshall Islands
GENSLER SURVEY: ‘Economic infrastructure is not enough. A city needs to inspire pride, offer moments of joy and foster a sense of belonging,’ the company said Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler. The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city. Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul. Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at
RSS