228 Memorial Foundation chairman Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元) criticized an unnamed governmental organization for its alleged unwillingness to declassify documents relating to the 228 Incident, calling its attitude reflective of the obstacles to declassifying materials regarding the White Terror era.
The 228 Incident refers to a crackdown launched by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) authoritarian regime against civilian demonstrations following an incident in Taipei on Feb. 27, 1947. It also marked the beginning of the White Terror era that saw thousands of Taiwanese arrested, imprisoned and executed.
Hsueh said Academia Historica had put in a great deal of effort to find new files for the 70th anniversary of the massacre this year.
The classification level of the files is low and reluctance to comply with Academia Historica’s declassification request is representative of the overall difficulty of declassifying files on the White Terror era, he said.
Most files are governmental and it is imperative for government organizations to periodically clear out file caches, Hsueh said.
Most archivists are not trained historians, he said, adding that agencies should keep the original files when relocating or archiving them.
“No file relating to transitional justice efforts should be shredded before being examined by academics,” Hsueh said.
Academia Historica director Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) said that only the office of a file’s origin could declassify the documents, adding that the government should amend the Personal Information Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
The law makes some information ralting to the Incident unavailable, Wu said, adding that the situation is “odd” at a time when the nation is trying to discover the facts about the Incident.
Wu also said that the Archives Act (檔案法) lacked sufficient power, as it does not grant access to documents filed by the KMT, adding that the Incident occurred during a time when the line between the party and the state was blurred.
“To understand the Incident, we must look into the KMT’s files, and such changes need to be enacted through the Legislative Yuan,” Wu said.
Academia Historica declined to name the government agency, saying only that it has just recently agreed to declassify related files.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
RSS