A dispute has erupted over the right to inherit the diaries of two late presidents — Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
A fourth-generation family member has demanded that terms of the contract giving the Hoover Institute at Stanford University in the US the right to preserve the diaries for 50 years be renegotiated.
Chiang You-mei (蔣友梅), the daughter of Chiang Ching-kuo’s deceased eldest son, Chiang Hsiao-wen (蔣孝文), issued a statement through the international law firm Baker & McKenzie on Tuesday asking her aunt Chiang Fang Chih-yi (蔣方智怡) to help in getting the US research institute to negotiate a new contract with her and other legal heirs to the two Chiangs’ diaries.
The two diaries are of significant academic value because they documented crucial historical events in modern China and recounted relevant policymaking processes, local observers said.
On Jan. 10, 2005, Chiang Fang Chih-yi, the widow of Chiang -Ching-kuo’s third son, Chiang Hsiao-yung (蔣孝勇), signed an agreement with the Hoover Institute that authorized the San Francisco-based think tank to take possession of the diaries for the next 50 years.
The diaries of Chiang Kai-shek span 1918 through 1975, a period that included a war of resistance against Japanese invasion, a civil war with the Chinese Communists and his exile to Taiwan and rule.
Chiang Ching-kuo’s diaries began in 1939 and ended in 1979, a period during which he succeeded his father, serving as premier and then as president of the Republic of China.
The Hoover Institute has since made copies of the diaries available for public inspection under strict conditions.
Chiang You-mei, who resides in the UK, said in the statement that Chiang Fang Chih-yi should not have signed the contract with the Hoover Institute by herself, because she is only one of nine legal heirs to the two Chiangs’ diaries. Her act infringed on the legal rights of the other heirs, the statement said.
As one of the legal heirs to the diaries, Chiang You-mei said she had long tried to persuade Chiang Fang Chih-yi to push the Hoover Institute to negotiate a new contract with all legal heirs, but had yet to receive a positive response.
Chiang You-mei said she and other heirs will not continue to tolerate Chiang Fang Chih-yi’s arbitrary action and that if necessary, they will take legal action to protect their own rights.
Sources close to the Chiang family said following the death of Chiang Ching-kuo, many important documents and files, including the two Chiangs’ diaries, were left in the custody of his third son, Chiang Hsiao-yung.
The inheritance dispute shed light on disharmony among family members of the once powerful and glamorous Chiang clan.
Some pundits wondered if the issue could be settled by turning the diaries over to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or to the country rather than remaining in the hands of Chiang’s heirs.
The KMT would not comment on the suggestion, saying it would not interfere in the Chiangs’ family matters.
As for the possibility of the diaries being taken over by the state, legal experts said the two Chiangs’ diaries were basically private property and it would be difficult to have them designated as national files or documents under the country’s Archives Act (檔案法).
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