TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE: The minister of culture said 1,038 political archives are to be made public to turn ‘the land of political trials into a land of reconciliation’
Taipei Times
Date: May 19, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA
A former political prisoner arrested during the Martial Law era praised the establishment of
Premier William Lai, left, and Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun, right, attend the unveiling ceremony of the National Human Rights Museum at Jing-mei White Terror Memorial Park in New Taipei City yesterday. Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
the National Human Rights Museum yesterday as an important milestone in the history of Taiwanese human rights, saying that an honest review of history is the best way to promote social reconciliation.
Chen Chung-tung (陳中統) made the comments at the opening of the museum at Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park in New Taipei City, the site of the detention facility where he was imprisoned from 1969 to 1978.
Although some have criticized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s promotion of “transitional justice” — saying that it exacerbates social conflict and characterizing it as an attempt to undermine the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as a political force — the 80-year-old said South Korea and Germany are examples of nations seeking reconciliation by coming to terms with history.
“We political victims spent our youth in jail. We can now choose to forgive, but history is about facts that cannot be forgotten,” Chen said. [FULL STORY]
