More than 80,000 official Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) documents from 1946 to 1955 have been organized and inspected by the Ministry of National Defense bureau, and now await declassification as part of the government’s efforts to promote transitional justice.
The bureau is to work with the National Development Council’s National Archives Administration (NAA) to transfer the documents that can be declassified to the archives.
The majority of the documents are related to assignments that were carried out over the 11 years, when the MIB was known as the Counterintelligence Bureau — or more commonly as the “secrecy bureau” (保密局) — and deal with intelligence on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) underground organization, the Taiwan Provincial Work Committee (台灣省工作委員會), an unnamed military official said.
A document showing the committee’s organization and a 1,000-plus name list of its reported members is now on display at the bureau’s newly renovated memorial to lieutenant general Tai Yu-nung (戴雨農), also known as Tai Li (戴笠), the source said.
The bureau’s investigation into the Taiwan Provincial Work Committee found that the ministry’s then-deputy chief of the general staff, lieutenant general Wu Shi (吳石), was working as an undercover CCP spy, the highest-level government official implicated at the time, the source said.
The stability of Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) regime and Taiwan’s safety were unpredictable during that time period, the source said.
By uncovering the Taiwan Provincial Work Committee and undercover CCP spies, the bureau secured the stability of the Chiang regime to a fair degree, the source said.
However, in the process of doing so, the abuse of power and incidents of personal revenge occurred, pointing to the White Terror era, the source said.
The bureau organized and inspected the documents so that their contents could be made public in an objective manner and historical truths restored, the source said.
In an age of democracy, establishing trust and support in the society would allow intelligence work to develop more smoothly, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said during a recent inspection visit to the bureau.
The Legislative Yuan on Dec. 5 last year passed the third reading of the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例) and made collecting political documents a priority.
As part of the effort, the council established a 20-member consultative committee that will visit and collect political documents from 32 key government agencies.
The NAA has asked for classified documents to be declassified or changed to a lower level.
However, documents that were meant to be classified forever will not be transferred to the archives or made public, although regular reassessments of their classification would be made.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
RSS