The Ministry of Culture has approved the listing of eight historical documents, including the Constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), as national treasures, Academia Historica said yesterday.
Listing the ROC Constitution as one of Taiwan’s national treasures is not unprecedented, as the US and many European countries also treat their most fundamental laws and important documents as national treasures, Academia Historica said in a statement.
The institute said it submitted the eight documents to the Ministry of Finance’s National Property Administration for listing as national treasures, based on their historic and academic importance.
The documents include an illustration by ROC founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) delineating his principle of the people’s livelihood, the ROC Political Tutelage Period Act (中華民國訓政時期約法), the ROC Constitution and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender.
A panel of 17 academics and experts formed by the Ministry of Culture decided to list the eight documents as national treasures or important antiques after a nine-month review process.
However, National Taipei University of Education history professor Lee Hsiao-feng (李筱峰) questioned President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) motives in making the announcement just before the government transition on Friday next week.
Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Modern History, said that classifying national artifacts is not merely a “technical issue,” but involves “national definition.”
For instance, “what ‘nation’ does this national treasure refer to,” Chen asked.
By declaring documents dating back to the “Political Tutelage Period” as national treasures, Ma is attempting to form “a connection with China” through the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) historical view, which would limit “Taiwan’s national definition” and “continue to trap Taiwan in the quagmire of ‘one China,’” Chen said.
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