The Executive Yuan is reviewing a draft political archives act that would circumvent legal barriers to obtain and publish data in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) possession about political prisoners and victims of the White Terror era, an Executive Yuan official said yesterday.
The Executive Yuan met with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus and reached an agreement to prioritize reviewing the proposal, which was drafted by the National Archives Administration, alongside the DPP’s draft act on promoting transitional justice in the current legislative session, said the official, who requested anonymity.
A statute proposed to expropriate historical data, including those held by the KMT, could be ratified as part of the transitional justice act, the official said, adding that legislative efforts would be focused on passing the transitional justice act while the Executive Yuan works to circumvent legal restrictions to its passage.
As the transitional justice bill — which deals with the actions of the then-KMT government during the 228 Massacre and the White Terror era — is a very sensitive issue, it is expected to spark heated debates between pan-green and pan-blue lawmakers, the official said.
Executive Yuan meetings have heard differing views on the feasibility of expropriating materials from the KMT’s archives, with some saying that the materials must be claimed in accordance with the Constitution to facilitate research into the nation’s history, the official said.
The expropriation should exclude material that is irrelevant to the nation’s history, lest the KMT complains about its private property being infringed upon, the official said.
According to a draft political archives act, individuals or organizations in possession of historical materials dating from 1945 to 1992 should declare them to the National Archives Administration, which would review the items and decide whether they should be made public, the official said.
The draft would also grant the government authority to probe individuals and organizations believed to be holding historical materials and request the documents, the official said.
The draft reportedly requires the KMT to report political files in its possession to the archives administration.
The archives administration has said that people who donate original historical documents would be able to apply for compensation after the materials are assessed.
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
President William Lai (賴清德) is expected to announce a new advanced “all-domain” air defense system to better defend against China when he gives his keynote national day speech today, four sources familiar with the matter said. Taiwan is ramping up defense spending and modernizing its armed forces, but faces a China that has a far larger military and is adding its own advanced new weapons such as stealth fighter jets, aircraft carriers and a huge array of missiles. Lai is expected to announce the air defense system dubbed “Taiwan Dome” in his speech this morning, one of the sources said. The system
RSS