image source,Chiang Wan-an Facebook
Jiang Wanan, who is labeled as a descendant of the Jiang family, began to face disputes over the merits and demerits of his personal family on the road to politics. (profile picture)
Every year, February 28th is the “228 Peace Remembrance Day” officially designated by Taiwan to commemorate the political violence that occurred in Taiwan on February 28, 1947, and the victims and families of the authoritarian rule under the “white terror” in the following decades.
According to Taiwan media reports, Chiang Wan-an, a descendant of Taiwan’s former authoritarian ruler Chiang Kai-shek and current Taipei Mayor Jiang Wanan, was attending the “76th Anniversary of the 228 Incident in Taipei” held by the city government today (February 28). He rushed to the podium and shouted “The murderer, the murderer kneels and apologizes”, causing the event to be temporarily interrupted.
After the security guards intervened, Jiang Wanan continued to deliver a speech and expressed that, as the mayor of Taipei, he sincerely apologized for the “February 28 Incident” that broke out in Taipei City 76 years ago and detonated the whole of Taiwan.
Jiang Wan’an, who is labeled as a descendant of the Jiang family, began to face disputes over the merits and demerits of his personal family on the road to politics. The 228 incident and the decades-long history of white terror that followed are testing Jiang Wanan’s political wisdom as a democratically elected mayor. The propositions he faces also include how the Taiwan government can explicitly promote transitional justice, and how Taiwan society can engage in dialogue and reconciliation.
Li Yili, an assistant professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Law of Tsinghua University in Taiwan, said that Mayor Jiang Wanan is not an isolated case. In Asia, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye and current Philippine President Marcos Jr. (Marcos Jr.) are both faced with similar propositions, that is, how the descendants of dictators should face the country’s history of white terror and transitional justice. However, she emphasized that in order to avoid the dilemma of transitional justice being repeatedly instrumentalized or partyized, society should avoid judging the descendants of authoritarian leaders with terms such as “original sin of blood”, because these terms will not help promote social reconciliation and deepen democracy.
image source,Chiang Min-yen
People in Taipei took to the streets to demand the release of the White Terror File.
However, Li Yili also said that from the perspective of consolidating democracy and stabilizing social development, the descendants of dictators obtain political capital and social resources through their family background, “they bear a higher responsibility for the promotion of transitional justice.” She cited a Nazi officer in World War II Taking future generations as an example, it is said that many future generations are more actively involved in restoring history, promoting social dialogue, and carrying out social healing and reconciliation projects in the work of historical reflection.
“Taiwanese society should very much hope that Mayor Jiang Wan’an can actively participate in and promote transformational justice after he has abundant administrative resources, and propose dialogue and actions that transcend partisanship, rather than just expressing opinions on 228 every year.” Li Yili said.
What did Tsai Ing-wen and Jiang Wanan say today?
In fact, when Ma Ying-jeou, a KMT member, was the mayor of the Taipei City Government in the past, the same commemorative activities have been fiercely debated in Taiwan’s public opinion and political circles. After Ma Ying-jeou was elected president in 2008, on behalf of the Taiwan government many times, he apologized to the victims and their families who were persecuted by the Chiang regime in the authoritarian era. But this year, non-governmental organizations will cancel the joint activities with the Taipei City Government. The reason is that they do not want to share the stage with “Chiang’s descendants.”
However, during Jiang Wanan’s speech, the people came to protest and interrupted Jiang Wanan’s speech for about ten minutes. According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, Jiang Wan’an said in his speech that he participated in the Taipei 228 commemorative activities for the first time as the mayor of Taipei, “with very complicated and solemn feelings.”
image source,Getty Images
Jiang Wan’an mentioned in the past that the issue of whether the giant bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan’s Liberty Square (formerly Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall) will be removed can be discussed.
He also said that he learned a lot from the love and tolerance of the 228 family members and “felt deeply”. He said that the city government will definitely instruct the city government to continue to dig out the historical materials of the 228 incident in Taipei and do its best to take care of and help the needs of the families of the victims.
In addition, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen posted on social media late yesterday (27th) that only by facing the mistakes of the past together can the Taiwanese have the opportunity to reconcile, live together, and move towards a united future. However, Tsai Ing-wen said in her speech that the road to reconciliation is still long in Taiwan. However, after the Tsai Ing-wen government came to power, the “transitional justice” work promoted, including the investigation or “declassification” of perpetrators’ materials and official documents of relevant government agencies, etc., has also caused many questions, including whether the government has done too slowly or too little, or The judiciary and relevant people still obstruct discussions such as the release of files.
Jiang Wan’an mentioned in the past that the issue of whether the giant bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan’s Liberty Square (formerly Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall) will be removed has been discussed. After taking office now, he also mentioned that he will try to open up the project of searching for information on 228 in Taipei as much as possible, and once again raise the issue of Taiwan’s transitional justice.
transformational justice
Transformational justice researcher and former acting chairman of the “Transitional Justice Promotion Committee” of Taiwan’s Executive Yuan, Ye Hongling, explained to the BBC that she agrees that in Taiwan, Jiang Wanan’s “dual identity” (the descendants of Jiang’s family and political figures) is in the face of transitional justice. The issue is “sensitive and responsible”. She explained that whether Jiang Wan’an has shown specific actions to deal with the issue of transitional justice is the focus of Taiwanese society’s concern, including how to deal with the “removal of symbols of authority” (such as the bronze statues of Chiang Kai-shek all over Taipei City) that Taiwan’s law has clearly stipulated. ), and the “transformation of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall” he once mentioned.
image source,Getty Images
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at a ceremony in Taipei, pardoning some 1,270 people in Taiwan’s “white terror” purge (file photo, Oct. 5, 2018).
“If his actions were just to maintain the practices of the blue camp figures in the past, while thinking about February 28 and going to Cihu Mausoleum in Taoyuan (the place where Chiang Ching-kuo and Chiang Kai-shek’s remains are temporarily placed), no one would think that he is really facing history and the past. Reflect.”
Both Jiang Wan’an and former President Ma Ying-jeou visited Cihu to pay homage to the mausoleum, and choked up in front of the camera, expressing their memory of Chiang Ching-kuo; What was disclosed in the official archives of the authoritarian period, “did not face the past sincerely, let alone reflect on it.”
Professor Li Yili emphasized that transitional justice is not only an issue within society, but also an important indicator for the United Nations to promote and examine the development of human rights and democracy in various countries for a long time. Her research found that transitional justice in Taiwan is still insufficient in terms of social dialogue. In order to avoid the development of “partisanization” of transitional justice, that is, the right to speak is dominated by a single political party, and other political parties cannot intervene or face it negatively. The promotion of transitional justice requires more social dialogue and political cooperation, so as to gain a wider audience. support and consensus formation. “In this way, Taiwan society can move towards mutual understanding and more democratic integration.”
Taiwan has entered a period of white terror for more than 30 years since the end of the 1940s. Tens of thousands of political victims were persecuted and freedom of speech was suppressed. It was not until the martial law was lifted in 1987 that film and television works with the theme of past authoritarian history appeared successively. .
