Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Proposal to limit ex-presidents’ travel

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Chih-cheng speaks in Taipei on Monday last week.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators have proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to require former presidents and vice presidents to obtain official approval from the sitting president prior to visiting China.

The subtle aspects of transitional justice

Lin Chia-ho 林佳和

Transitional justice is a matter of dealing with the past, of a nation facing its own history. People who suffered because of human rights violations and disregard for the rule of law under authoritarian dictatorships are entitled to ask for some sort of compensation from the perpetrators, be it judicial rehabilitation or punishment, or the return of seized assets or monetary compensation.

Feigning ignorance over justice

Taipei Times Editorial

When president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Tuesday reiterated her resolution to carry out “transitional justice” through legislation and the establishment of an independent committee, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had just announced a plan to rename a Presidential Office Building hall after Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), the nation’s last authoritarian ruler.

That might seem ironic, but it demonstrates — along with the outgoing ruling party’s united front against the incoming administration’s idea of transitional justice, calling it a “political vendetta” — that the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) tactics are less about absurdity and more about ignorance, or feigning it.

HK serves as warning for Taiwan

Joseph Tse-Hei Lee 李榭熙

As president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) prepares for her inauguration ceremony in May, the nation’s expectations of the new administration grow.

Efforts are now underway to promote the mechanisms of transitional justice and truth — attempts to heal a population that was subject to political oppression during the White Terror era.

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