A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposal to include the Qing Dynasty and Japanese colonial period in an act to preserve “sites of injustice” was an attempt to trivialize the party’s former autocratic rule, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers and civic groups said yesterday.
Expanding the proposed “sites of injustice preservation act” to include incidents prior to 1945 — such as injustices committed during the eras of Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功, also known as Koxinga), the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese colonial government — devalues transitional justice and trivializes the harm caused by the then-KMT regime, DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) told a news conference in Taipei.
Fan said that none of the 100 students who attended a recent university lecture had heard of former DPP chairman and political activist Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), and only three had heard of the Lin family massacre.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
That highlights the necessity of preserving sites of injustices committed during the KMT regime to prevent them from being forgotten, she said.
On Feb. 28, 1980, while Lin was in custody for his involvement in a pro-democracy demonstration, his mother and twin daughters were stabbed to death at his home in Taipei. Some believe the murders, which remain unsolved, were perpetrated by the then-KMT government.
DPP Legislator Ariel Chang (張雅琳) said that victims of the White Terror era included Taiwanese and waishengren (外省人) — those who came to Taiwan with the KMT government in 1949 after the Chinese Civil War, and their offspring.
Ethnicity or party membership did not prevent a person from becoming a target, she said.
Preserving sites of injustice would allow future generations to understand what happened during that era and the sacrifices made so that Taiwanese can today enjoy freedom of speech, Chang said.
DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) said that the KMT is hoping to deny its past by expanding the act, as it has not proposed its own version.
Delays in reviewing the draft mean that the Ministry of Culture cannot review the status of potential sites and engage in preservation efforts, in effect perpetrating further injustices, DPP Legislator Huang Chieh (黃捷) said.
Taiwan Youth Association for Transitional Justice and Kiong Seng president Pan Mei (潘美) said that the group supported expanding the definition of sites of injustice to include all sites involved in furthering the nation’s democratic values.
Union of Taiwanese Teachers vice president Pan Wei-you (潘威佑) said that sites of injustice are in danger of disappearing due to lengthy review times, adding that the KMT was politicizing the issue and escalating social conflict.
Peng Ming-min Foundation board director Lo Chun-hsuan (羅浚晅) said the draft act was technical and the competent authorities, as designated by the act, would be in charge of informing the public how such sites would be preserved and the historical significance they represent.
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