Activists Warn Against KMT Proposal To Redefine Historical Sites of Injustice

TaiwanPlus News

Human rights activists in Taiwan are protesting a Kuomintang proposed amendment to expand the "site of injustice preservation act" to include incidents prior to 1945 and the White Terror period, an era of authoritarian rule under the Kuomintang.

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00:00In the spotlight at the legislature is how to preserve Taiwan's historical

00:04sites of injustice like this one from the White Terror era, an almost four

00:10decade long period of brutal martial law which saw tens of thousands of people

00:16imprisoned and killed under Kuomintang rule. This Taipei Post Office was where

00:22military police and civilians clashed on February 28th, 1947, one of the events

00:29that triggered the authoritarian crackdown. The Kuomintang today is the

00:33main opposition party and at the legislature lawmakers from across the

00:38political spectrum are reviewing various proposals on what preserving sites like

00:43this looks like. A group of human rights activists are taking issue with one

00:48particular proposal from two Kuomintang lawmakers to expand the definition of

00:53sites of injustice beyond the White Terror period to include those from the

00:58Qing Dynasty and the Japanese colonial era. They say this downplays the harm

01:04caused by the then Kuomintang regime.

01:18Those calling for the changes say they're necessary to acknowledge all

01:23injustices committed on this land.

01:40At the heart of this debate is transitional justice, the effort to

01:45recognize historical truths and compensate for atrocities committed

01:49before Taiwan's shift to democracy. While the Kuomintang says all

01:54oppressions should be included in Taiwan's dark history, some activists are

01:59concerned that the Kuomintang is attempting to evade responsibility and

02:03its role in the country's hard-won democracy.

02:06Devon Tsai and Joyce Sun in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.

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