Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) yesterday urged National Taiwan University to hand over historical files associated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to the Transitional Justice Commission so that they could be made public.
A request by the commission to the university for the files is part of efforts to “restore historical truths,” Lai said, adding that the university should comply with such requests instead of refusing them and working with the KMT.
The KMT remains in possession of many party and government files, he said, calling on the party to make such documents available to the public.
The commission has said that 4,286 documents signed by Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) in the hands of the KMT are considered political files and must be turned over to the National Archives Administration by the end of the month.
Citing the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例), the commission said that it is duty-bound to make available political files, and help the public gain an understanding of the decisions and leadership of the KMT during the Martial Law era.
All KMT files kept at the school that bear Chiang’s signature must be turned over to the state to “facilitate the restoration of historical truths,” it said.
In 2005, the university’s library entered into an agreement with the KMT’s party history museum to help digitize documents and establish a “party history archive” next month, the commission said.
Sources have said that the archive would have “special files” classified during the Second Sino-Japanese War, including party operative files and details of their missions in the central government, provinces and overseas, as well as files dedicated to Taiwan, renowned KMT personnel and those bearing Chiang’s signature.
It is not common knowledge that the university has many KMT files, as they are not listed on the university library’s online database, the commission said.
The files are only accessible on official computers at the university library’s archives and can only be view for one hour, it said, adding that they cannot be photocopied, photographed, recorded, printed or e-mailed.
Sources said that the university cited needing the KMT’s approval when declining the commission’s request.
However, such a restriction is not stipulated in the agreement with the party, they said.
The commission has criticized the university’s restricted access to files that would benefit historical research, despite using Ministry of Education funds to establish and run its library and archives, they added.
The commission said that it is authorized by law to investigate files and institutions, adding that organizations being probed should not refuse its requests without just cause.
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