White Terror

No, the DPP is Not About to Remove Chiang Kai-shek Statues En Masse

Some feverish media reporting in English, from pan-Blue-leaning media outlets or journalists, has honed in on the prospect of the 760 remaining statues of Chiang Kai-shek being removed from public spaces. This is claimed to be a move likely to provoke China, in that Chiang is seen as a figure associated with China–this despite, of course, that Chiang and the KMT came to Taiwan after their military defeat by the CCP in the Chinese Civil War...

Lack of Clear Answers Regarding the Lin Family Massacre Reflects the Dilemmas of Transitional Justice

The apparent inability of the Transitional Justice Commission to confirm that the 1980 murders of Lin Yi-hsiung’s family were murders committed by the Taiwan Garrison Command or other state security forces points to the dilemmas of reckoning with political crimes committed during Taiwan’s authoritarian period. The Transitional Justice Commission recently announced that, according to its investigations of the murders, state security forces were “likely” involved but did not state any definitive conclusion as to if they were...

Challenges Remain to Uncovering the Truth Behind White Terror Incidents

The long path for transitional justice to be achieved in Taiwan is evident in the challenges faced by efforts to bring the truth of major incidents during the White Terror to light. President Tsai Ing-wen vowed to do so in July through declassifying the files of the National Security Bureau and other institutions of the ROC state that carried out political persecutions on behalf of the KMT during the authoritarian period...

Anger After KMT Disrupts Transitional Justice Commission Meeting

Anger has broken out after the KMT disrupted a meeting of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee confirming the budget of the Transitional Justice Commission and its plans for the upcoming year. A picture of KMT members knocking over a table and looking as though they intended to attack Yang Tsui, the chair of the commission and a family member of a White Terror victim, subsequently went viral on the Internet, further stoking outrage...