Main defendant Chiang Fang Chih-yi (蔣方智怡) on Friday responded to criticism that she had not done enough to preserve the diaries of former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), at a hearing at the Taipei District Court in a case brought by the Academia Historica.
Ownership of the diaries is to be decided by the outcome of the hearing, after a US court said it would await the local court’s decision on the matter.
The Academia Historica has since 2012 contended with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and Chiang Fang for the right to own and archive the former presidents’ diaries, as well as private documents.
Chiang Fang came into custody of the diaries through her husband, Chiang Hsiao-yung (蔣孝勇), the youngest son of Chiang Ching-kuo.
After their deaths, Chiang Hsiao-yung was entrusted with his father’s and grandfather’s diaries, private papers and government documents. In 2005, Chiang Fang gave her consent for the diaries to be deposited at the Hoover Institution for a period of 50 years.
Chiang Kai-shek’s personal diaries stretch from 1915 to July 1972, while Chiang Ching-kuo’s diaries record his experiences from 1937 to 1980.
Stanford University appealed to the US District Court in San Jose, California, to arbitrate rightful ownership in 2013. The District Court in San Jose on Sept. 2, 2015, said it would put off the arbitration until the Academia Historica obtained a court ruling in its favor in Taiwan.
Thirteen claimants from the Chiang family, including Chiang Fang, were listed as defendants in the case.
The institute said the diaries belonged to the Republic of China as stipulated by the Presidential and Vice Presidential Records and Artifacts Act (總統副總統文物管理條例).
Academia Historica said that eight defendants to date had agreed to drop their ownership claims to the diaries and it would not exclude the possibility of settling the issue with the defendants.
The institute would remain strictly neutral and all documents retrieved would be made available to the public, following the example of the Chiang Kai-shek presidential files, it said.
Court hearings in Taiwan began on Nov. 11 last year. After two failed arbitrations, the case is now entering legal proceedings.
Chiang Fang told the court that she was certain the two former presidents would have agreed that the diaries should be turned over to the Academia Historica and added she hoped legal proceedings could be avoided and all parties could come to a settlement out of court.
However, she “could not accept” allegations that she had illegally seized the diaries and all papers, Chiang Fang said.
Her husband had authorized her to “transfer the diaries and all papers to a credible academic establishment for preservation” and after he passed away she thus assumed full ownership of the documents, she said.
Chiang Fang said she could understand criticism that she had not done enough to preserve the diaries and papers, but she could not accept being called a thief.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS