A project aimed at declassifying old government records has hit a roadblock after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) refused to allow project coordinators to publish a portion of documents concerning the party.
Academia Historica had announced that formerly confidential government archives dating back to Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) regime would be published online in April next year.
The institute said it hopes to finish compiling 260,000 documents by the end of this month for online publication as part of the government’s efforts toward transitional justice, adding that the collection would be missing a portion of KMT-related documents after the party refused publishing permission.
The institute said the collection includes documents related to the Northern Expedition — a KMT campaign led by Chiang against local warlords in China from 1926 to 1928; the Second Sino-Japanese War; China-Taiwan unification plans; and government suppression of civil strife.
The collection consists of manuscripts, electronic documents, letters, books, maps, photographs and other artifacts, 90 percent of which were confidential, the institute said, adding that it digitized the documents between 2001 and 2011, but could not publish them until now given their confidential nature.
Academia Historica president Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) said that in accordance with the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) all protected documents must be individually audited before they can be made available to the public.
In October, a meeting was convened between the Presidential Office and 18 government departments to expedite the auditing process, Wu said.
As documents dated prior to Dec. 7, 1949, were written in China, it was much easier to convince relevant parties to declassify them, Wu said.
Documents related to military affairs still need to be examined one at a time, Wu said, adding that those concerning foreign relations were deemed too sensitive to be declassified.
Documents concerning Chiang have never been declassified, Wu said, adding that it took him four months at a rate of about 60,000 documents per month to carefully inspect each article.
Wu said that 15,000 documents concerning late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) would be inspected and uploaded to the Web site by June next year, while those concerning former president Yen Chia-kan (嚴家淦) and former vice president Chen Cheng (陳誠) would be inspected at another date.
Once the documents are uploaded they will be accessible from anywhere in the world, including China, Macao and Hong Kong, Wu said, adding that the Web site will incorporate restrictions on downloading or printing the documents in those regions.
Wu said that while he hopes to publish the documents with as much transparency as possible, some have criticized the restrictions on readers in China as an obstruction to academic freedom.
Wu said his team began digitizing documents after securing permission from the KMT’s party history museum, adding that he had assumed that permission extended to documents concerning party affairs.
Wu said that when he wrote to the KMT last month in preparation for posting the documents online he was told that a portion of the documents could not be published.
National Taipei University of Education’s Graduate School of Taiwanese Culture professor Lee Hsiao-feng (李筱峰) said that although the documents are KMT property, in the past there was no distinction made between nation and party.
Lee called on the KMT to cooperate with Wu’s team and allow the government to be transparent.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS