The Libratory, an independent vintage bookstore near Taipei’s National Taiwan Normal University, yesterday launched a small exhibition of historical materials concerning the 228 Massacre and the White Terror era, provided by researchers, in defiance of the recent warrantless search by the military police of a civilian’s residence for such material.
The exhibition is titled Researchers are so frightened that they have rushed to clear their storage of 228 and White Terror-related books and documents. The organizers said they are not only criticizing the military police, but also those who have praised an antique collector and dealer surnamed Hu (胡) — who says he has a collection of more than 1,000 White Terror-era documents — as a protector of historical documents.
They are also taking aim at those who say that Democratic Progressive Party politician and TV show host Peng Wen-cheng (彭文正) — or other politicians — can be trusted with the documents.
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Taipei Times
The bookstore invited several academics to the launch of the exhibition yesterday to share their views on the preservation of Taiwan’s political documents.
Former 228 Memorial Museum director Iap Phok-bun (葉博文) said many people called the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime a “settler regime,” but he thought a more accurate description based on its deeds would be “wanted-criminal regime.”
“When wanted criminals are on the lam and randomly go into your house, they tie you up and threaten you; inside, they fear defectors and outside, they face arrest,” Iap said, explaining why the KMT had feared the unsealing of the documents.
The other two young academics invited to the event addressed widespread misgivings among Internet users about the government’s trustworthiness to handle the documents and criticized the praise lavished on Hu.
Hu has become a much-sought-after guest on various political TV shows. His appearances on TV culminated on Thursday night when he handed over a cardboard box of documents to Peng and several other Democratic Progressive Party politicians for them to temporarily look after, as Hu claimed he could not sleep under the stress of possessing them.
The handover received the acclaim of many viewers who said that the government cannot be trusted with the files, but it has also raised the hackles of many White Terror era researchers who accused Hu of self-promotion and called for professional conservation of the documents.
Taiwan Association for Truth and Reconciliation former executive secretary Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) called on those who now have the documents to immediately donate them to the National Archives Administration.
“Don’t turn this farce into a tragedy,” she said. “Three unprofessional people perusing the documents might result in them being damaged. Handling historical documents requires professional skills.”
Of Internet users’ concerns the files might be “deliberately destroyed” by the current administration, Yeh said that would be “almost, or I should say absolutely, impossible.”
She railed against Hu and political commentators for fanning conspiracy theories and discrediting academics working on the issue.
White Terror researcher Lin Yi-hsuan (林邑軒) said the public has so far been unfamiliar with the historical materials and now is a good time for them to be brought to light.
“Let the collection of documents be institutionalized,” he said.
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