The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) should participate in transitional justice instead of opposing it all the time, Transitional Justice Commission researcher Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元) said yesterday at a discussion hosted by the Taiwan New Century Foundation to mark International Day of Democracy on Saturday.
Former South African president F.W. de Klerk of the National Party pushed for the abolition of the apartheid system and won the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela, Tseng said.
If the KMT approves of how South Africa approached reconciliation, it should participate in transitional justice instead of constantly opposing it, he said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Tseng also said that even now many people in Taiwan are “politically nostalgic” and miss former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
South Korea has long since removed its statues of dictators, yet Taiwan is still discussing whether its statues of Chiang Kai-shek should be removed, said Korean Studies Academy chief executive officer Rick Chu (朱立熙), who was also at the event.
Statues of former South Korean president Syngman Rhee were removed when he stepped down in 1960, Chu said, adding that former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung passed special legislation to establish agencies, such as the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and the Truth Commission, to protect the nation’s democracy.
Taiwan’s democracy is threatend by fake news created by China, he said.
The government should legislate an act for freedom of speech, and prohibit speech that extols the Chinese Communist Party made by the Chinese Unity Promotion Party, the Patriot Association and others, Chu said.
Taiwan cannot allow China to affect the morale of Taiwanese, he added.
Whether people are allowed to fly the Chinese national flag is not a matter of freedom of speech, said Leung Man-to (梁文韜), a professor in the Department of Political Science at National Cheng Kung University.
Western countries would not allow the Nazi flag to be flown in the streets, he added.
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