Renowned historian Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) has been appointed by the incoming government as the next director of Academia Historica. Wu previously served as deputy minister of the now-defunct council of cultural affairs — now the Ministry of Culture — and director of the National Museum of Taiwan History.
Wu said that government documents relating to transitional justice and public properties should be processed as quickly as possible and made open to the public.
Wu said that the job of Academia Historica is relatively simple, with the law stipulating that its main responsibilities are editing presidential files, and collecting and storing presidential objects.
However, viewing Academia Historica’s responsibilities through the prism of the 20th century would not meet the needs of the present, he said.
Late Academia Historica director Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲) — who headed the institute from 2000 to 2008 — accentuated research on Taiwan-centric issues, with publications of research papers and books on political persecution, democracy pioneer Lei Chen (雷震), the White Terror era, the 228 Incident, Taiwan’s democratization process and Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Chang also headed a research group at the 228 Incident Memorial Foundation and in 2006 published a research report on who was responsible for the 228 Incident.
On the other hand, while serving as the Council of Cultural Affairs deputy minister, Wu pushed for editing and publishing administrative documents related to Taiwan in the courts of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Wu said that he would continue to systemically collect, compile and publish historical documents.
Citing as an example the publication of the Fort Zeelandia diaries, written by Dutch colonialists in the 17th century, by late Academia Sinica research fellow Tsao Yung-ho (曹永和), Wu said that it was because the Dutch preserved and maintained historical documents with such care that contemporary researchers could make use of them.
He said that since the ROC has been in Taiwan for more than 70 years — much longer than the 30 years it was in China — the ROC post-1949 is part of Taiwan’s history.
However, due to restrictions by the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法), the Archives Act (檔案法) and the National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), researchers are facing many problems when using such historical documents, he said.
For example, unresolved issues remain, such as whether those who are involved in political persecution can apply to see documents related to their cases, or if an individual may do so if the case involves several other people.
Wu said that he hopes that a bill concerning the role of documents in political cases is proposed as soon as possible, so that Academia Historica, the National Archives and other institutions may try to ascertain historical facts in accordance with the law.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
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