Earlier this month, officials from Taipei's 228 Memorial Museum (
On May 31 the Taipei City Government -- which owns the facility -- decided to terminate its management contract with the current steering organization of the museum, the Taiwan Peace Foundation (TPF,
The termination, while dubbed by the local press as a "When Sally meets Harry" style fallout between Iap Phok-bun (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
It was the first failed experiment of a private organization's involvement in public affairs.
The reasons why are many
Some critics of the failure have said the cancellation was clearly an ethnic dispute, a clash between the foundation's pro-Taiwan ideology and Lung's "greater China bias." Others say it is because the administrative procedures of the city government are incompatible with those of the private sector.
Or maybe, again, as some have said, it is part of a political struggle between the KMT and the DPP, a continuation of the war of words between native Taiwanese and mainlanders over the political legacy of the 228 Incident.
The 228 Incident refers to a brutal military crackdown that followed civilian protests which broke out on Feb. 28, 1947 against the corrupt administration of Chen Yi (
Chen had been appointed governor of Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek (
Many of Taiwan's most prominent citizens and leading intellectuals were dragged from their homes, some to be killed on the spot, others to simply disappear, presumably executed. Mainlanders were also killed in the Incident, and estimates put the total death toll in the tens of thousands.
Up until recent years, even talking about the Incident was taboo in Taiwan. Successive KMT presidents painted the Incident as a "communist rebellion," rather than what it really was, a legitimate protest against a corrupt government. The martial law regime which ensued, continued to use brutality and suppression for several decades in what was known as the period of "White Terror."
A breakthrough on the sensitive issue did not come about until KMT President Lee Teng-hui (
As the first city-owned, privately-run (
The actions of Chen and Lee during that period were seen as a struggle to gain the popular support of native Taiwanese, analysts say.
Iap Phok-bun
The museum's steering committee is comprised of many Taiwanese celebrities, including Chen's present national policy advisers Lee Yuan-tseh (
Iap Phok-bun, a cultural figure and one of the organization's founders, was invited to serve as not only the museum's director but the executive-general of foundation.
A supporter of Taiwan independence to the core, Iap Phok-bun even uses the Taiwanese romanization spelling for his name. Born in 1947 -- the same year as the Incident -- Iap knew nothing about it during his childhood. He has often said in public, in fact, that the Taiwanese are only just beginning to learn the truth about past tragedies, and that such incidents have quickly become a rallying call for Taiwan's opposition and independence movements.
Lung, a second-generation mainlander, appears less sensitive on this point. When she talked to Iap for the first time in her office, she carelessly asked him " How do you plan to celebrate the 228 this year?" Though she apologized immediately after Iap said " 228 is for commemoration, not a celebra-tion," Iap has yet to forgive her for her "Freudian slip."
In order to teach Lung a lesson, Iap said the theme for this year's 53rd anniversary, held on Feb. 28, would be "seeking the truth and rebuilding historical memory."
Comments between the two have been cutting ever since. Commemorating the 228 tragedy, Iap emphasized that "persecutors have no right to ask for forgiveness from their victims," a direct response to an earlier comment by Lung who said, "only by walking out of the gloom can we see the sunlight."
Then came trouble.
When the museum refused to allow the City's Cultural Affairs Bureau to check it's finances, Lung decided against renewing the management's contract according to a regulation under the new "Government Purchasing Law (
Lung said the foundation's election of a new president, Lee Min-yung (
Following this said "violation" the city government's cultural bureau terminated the contract with the museum in January, claiming it illegitimate.
"Illegitimate?" Iap asked "then why did Mayor Ma Ying-jeou give an award to the foundation in honor of our dedication to the museum last December?"
Iap says he found that Lung was also taking advantage of the media to spread rumors about the foundation's fund raising activities and was also getting involved in disputes between the museum and some of the victims' families.
To the families of the Incident victims, the museum is a "holy altar" to soften their sorrows. To Iap, the museum is not only a "temple" for the victims' families but also a place of learning for the people.
Lung continued to push the issue, calling for a public bid to take over operation rights of the museum, after Iap and the board members of the foundation suddenly decided to quit the museum's management on May 31.
The first open bid for new management was held on April 29, but failed to attract any bidder. The second bid on May10 also failed to reach a conclusion as neither of two bidders were able to meet required criteria.
Lung had said earlier that the Bureau of Cultural Affairs could temporarily take over the management if a second round of bidding failed. A third round of bidding has been slated for Wednesday.
"We've dedicated our efforts to managing the museum and have acquired a great deal of positive response from the public, and now we are being forced to quit," said Lee Min-yung.
Taipei City Council dispute
Some analyst thought the situation wouldn't be so bad if both sides learned to live with the past and moved ahead. Ho Jung-hsing (何榮幸), a senior journalist, said the dispute is ideological not legal.
Ho said the real problem for both sides is the fact that the historical phases are compressed into very short time frames, forcing people to look at the Incident's historical and cultural issues from political viewpoints.
For this same reason some Taipei City Councilors boycotted Lung's original appointment, when she was invited to return to Taiwan after several years abroad and head up the cultural bureau. At the time some councilors had said Lung was not a "Taiwanese," which made the renowned writer irate.
New Party City Councilor Chin Li-fang's (
She said that "since the foundation has the ability to raise funds itself and as Iap was upset about the city's interference, why on earth should we [the Taipei City Government] budget NT$50 billion to support it?"
Responding to this, DPP City Councilor Chen Hsiu-hui (
Iap says peace will prevail all over the world only when people can enjoy freedom and dignity. If there's no dignity, he would rather do nothing than "wait and see" what happens next.
Some rumors are already spreading that mainlanders and the New Party will come out to take over the museum by winning Tuesday's bid.
If they don't -- Lung, who lacks manpower -- will have to take over the museum's day to day activities.
Back to the drawing board?
With such strong opposition from the Taipei City Government some are saying the new administration should come to the rescue.
"Since the whole problem comes from the Taipei City Government, which is currently ruled by the KMT," a "strategy consultant" of the museum said, it might be one kind of solution to ask the President-elect Chen Shui-bian to built a "national 228 memorial museum" in his term.
"Since we can build the Taipei 228 memorial museum in three years, we can certainly build a Taiwan 228 memorial museum in the next four years if necessary," the consultant said.
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