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Sixty
years ago, the Nationalist Chinese Army brutally killed several
thousand civilians in Taiwan. After the massacre, the Chinese
Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo
continued to rule Taiwan until 1988. During the Chiang era, tens of
thousands of civilians were persecuted, tortured and killed. After
almost twenty years of democratization, none of perpetrators has been
prosecuted. Every attempt to discuss the issue of transitional justice
in public ends in a justification of the atrocities and a glorification
of the prime perpetrators. Taiwan’s achievement in the area of
transitional justice is deplorable and its intellectual discourse a
threat to the future human rights situation in the region. It
constitutes a threat because it overtly emphasizes economic growth and
completely writes off the necessity of humanity.
As an Austrian citizen who has been told since early childhood that
crimes against humanity are no peccadilloes (Kavaliersdelikte), the
ongoing ignorance and belittlement of the crimes committed by the
Nationalists (KMT) are completely unacceptable and outrageous.
In this paper, I would like to discuss Taiwan’s
transitional justice from an Austrian perspective. The first part of
the paper gives an overview of the most important laws that were passed
immediately after the war as to deal with Austria’s dark past,
that is the Nazi dictatorship (1938-1945). The second part looks at the
legal provisions requesting the prosecution of those questioning the
existence of the Nazi crimes or glorifying the Nazi regime. The third
part is an analysis of the current discourse in Taiwan on transitional
justice, and the last summarizes the main features of transitional
justice in Taiwan and Austria, and concludes with several normative
policy suggestions. 1. Transitional Justice (1945-1957)In
1938, Austria became part of the Third Reich and the Republic of
Austria ceased to exist. Immediately after the Second World War,
Austria regained independence. In April 1945, an interim coalition
government, including socialists, conservatives and communists, was
formed. One of the major aims of the new government was to destroy the
Nazi party (NSDAP) and all its related organizations, to clean the
entire state apparatus from the Nazis (Entnazifizierung), and to
prosecute the perpetrators. As to achieve these aims, several special
laws were passed. The two most important were the Verbotsgesetz
(Prohibition Act) and the Kriegsverbrechergesetz (War Criminal Act). 1.1 Verbotsgesetz (VG)The
Verbotsgesetz was passed in August 1945. (1) The law was designed to
prevent the re-occurrence of a Nazi state and to provide a legal
framework under which Nazi crimes could be prosecuted.
The very first article of the law stipulated that the NSDAP and all its
related organizations be dissolved and that all their property be
transferred to the State. Moreover, any attempt to re-establish such
organizations was declared a criminal act (Article 1). Violators faced
severe sentences including the death penalty (Article 3).
According to the law, all members of the NSDAP and its related
organizations had to register with the authorities (Article 4). The
registration was necessary as to start the process of de-Nazification.
In July 1947, the government announced that based on the information
gathered through the registration process, a total of 960 people had
been removed from high-ranking positions in the state and private
sector, some 70,000 out of 300,000 civil servants had been suspended
and another 36,000 employees had lost their jobs in the private sector.(2)
The law in its original form had several flaws. For example, it allowed
members of the NSDAP who were not actively involved in the Nazi
movement to petition for exemption. This regulation caused serious
bureaucratic problems, since over 85 percent of the Nazis claimed that
they had not been active members. A further problem was that the law
did not distinguish between those who were key figures in the Nazi
movement and those who held lower positions in the Nazi hierarchy. All
Nazis were thus equally sanctioned regardless of the scope of their
involvement (Garscha, 2000: 858; Stiefel, 1991: 129). (3)
In 1947, the VG was thus revised and another law, the
Nationalsozialistengesetz, implemented. The latter law defined the
criminal offences contained in the Verbotsgesetz in a more detailed
way, replacing the general offence by a number of provisions.
Moreover, the revised VG now made a distinction between those who held
key positions (Belasteten) and those who were 'mere followers' of the
Nazi regime (Minderbelasteten). A year after the law was passed, the
number of Belastete accounted for 43,468 (8 percent of all registered
Nazis) and the number of Minderbelastete was as high as 487,067
(Garscha 2000: 859).(4) The 1947 revision extended the compulsory
registration from NSDAP members to those who were not members but
actively supported the Nazi regime (Article 4, VG). One of the
consequences of the revisions and the Nationalsozialistengesetz was
that another 22,000 public servants were suspended. If compared with
the number of public servants who were in office in 1945, one third
lost their jobs because of the VG. (5) Suspension was only one of the
various so-called atonement measures (Suehnefolgen) registered
supporters of the NSDAP faced. According to the VG and the
Nationalsozialistengesetz, ranking members of the NSDAP and other
highly active supporters of the regime (the so-called Belasteten) had
to accept the following atonement measures (Article 18, VG):- special taxes: 20 percent in addition to their income tax for five years
- compensation: 20 to 70 percent of their capital has to be handed over to the state
- deprivation
of civil rights: barred from candidacy in national and local elections
for lifetime, barred from voting in national and local elections for 5
years, barred from being a member of a political party for five years
- barred from taking positions in universities and other public institutions for lifetime
The atonement measures of the so-called Minderbelasteten included:- special taxes: 10 percent in addition to their income tax for three years
- compensation: 10 to 40 percent of their capital has to be handed over to the state
- deprivation of civil rights: barred from candidacy in national and local elections for 5 years
- barred from taking positions in universities and other public institutions, but he or she may apply to government for exemption
The
law also requested the establishment of special courts (Volksgerichte)
that should exclusively deal with crimes mentioned in the Verbotsgesetz
and the Kriegsverbrechergesetz (Article 24-26, VG). In August 1945, the
first such court was set up in Vienna and soon three others throughout
Austria. Verdicts reached by the courts were final, i.e. there was no
legal remedy. Sentences were immediately carried out. The Supreme Court
(Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) could, however, void the judgment and
request a retrial with different judges if it observed major
discrepancies in the way the Volksgericht handled the case. (6) Only those
who had no past record of any affiliation with the Nazi regime could
become judges at the Volksgerichte. In 1955, the Volksgerichte were
closed. Ordinary courts took over the duty of convicting the
perpetrators. Between 1945 and 1955, the Volksgerichte held about
90,000 pre-trial hearings. There were some 28,000 indictments, and in
about 25,000 cases main trials took place. About 90 percent of the main
trials were held before 1950. Approximately 70 percent of the 20,000
people standing main trial were found guilty.(7) As illustrated in Table
1, almost half of the trials took place at the Volksgericht Vienna. On
the average, every second indictment let to a conviction. Table 1: Cases tried by the Volksgerichte (1945-1955)
| Volksgericht | Vienna | Graz | Linz | Innsbruck | Total | | Indictments | 13,561 | 6,698 | 5,958 | 1,931 | 28.148 | | Convictions | 6,701 | 3,873 | 1,993 | 1,040 | 13,607 | | Ration % | 49.41 | 57.82 | 33.45 | 53.86 | 48.34 | Source:
Dokumentationsarchiv des Oesterreichischen Widerstandes,
“Verfahren vor oesterreichischen Volksgerichten,”
http://www.doew.at/thema/vg/vg.html#wien (accessed December 17,
2006). 1.2 Kriegsverbrechergesetz (KVG)In
June 1945, the interim government passed the Kriegsverbrechergesetz
(KVG). The law was necessary for various reasons. Existing laws, for
instance, did not cover crimes against humanity, such as denunciation
and deportation. Moreover, the German Criminal Code addressed other
offences such as murder and personal injury, but the sentences were
considered too lenient given the nature of the crimes the Nazis had
committed.(8) The interim minister of justice referred to the KVG as an
exceptional law to deal with exceptional crimes. (9) Some parts of the law
were considered retroactive, which caused criticism among legal
experts. In general, retroactive legislation is considered a violation
of legal principles (nullum crimen, nulla poene sine lege). As to the
KVG, however, the majority of jurists did neither see a legal nor a
moral problem with the retroactivity of the KVG. One group of legal
theorists argued that at the time the law was passed and in force no
equal or higher legal norm existed that would have prohibited or
restricted retroactive legislation. Other theorists pointed out that
the Nazis themselves had amended the German Criminal Code (Article 2,
RstGB) in 1935 allowing for the retroactive prosecution for any action
that should deserve punishment according to the “sound feelings
of the people.” (10) In the Declaration of Independence of 27 April
1945, the interim government noted that the Nazis ought to be treated
under the same exceptional legal framework that they had forced upon
the people of Austria.(11) The law covered the following offences: - war crimes (Kriegsverbrechen)
- war mongering (Kriegshetzerei)
- agony and maltreatment (Quaelereien und Misshandlungen)
- transgression of humanness and human dignity (Verletzungen der Menschlichkeit und Menschenwuerde)
- expropriation and forced resettlement (Vertreibung aus der Heimat)
- immoral enrichment (Missbraeuchliche Bereicherung), and
- denunciation (Denunziation).
Sentences
depended on the type of crime committed, the role of the accused in the
crime and on whether the crime was systematic or not. The law demanded
lighter sentences in cases where the accused acted on instruction. The
law explicitly ruled that perpetrators could not claim their innocence
by stating that they had just executed orders. Amnesty was only granted
in cases where the perpetrator could prove that he/she had committed
the crime against her/his own will (Befehlsnotstand). None of the
accused in the postwar trials could provide sufficient evidence to back
such a claim, though. (12)
Tougher sentences had to be given to those who gave orders and to those
who committed the same crime repeatedly. The law stipulated that
perpetrators had to be sentenced to death when they had committed the
crimes systematically.
The law defined war crimes as offences that contradict the natural
requirements of humanity and violate the generally accepted principles
of international law. Article 1 stated that all government members
during the Nazi period and all other high-ranking members of the NSDAP
were war criminals who had to be sentenced to death. There was no
evidence for their actual involvement in a crime necessary, since it
was believed that whoever had held such positions in the Nazi hierarchy
would have undoubtedly been involved in the planning and ordering of
the Nazi atrocities (praesunito iuris ac de jure). (13)
Article 2 of the law made war mongering a criminal offence. A warmonger
was defined by the law as someone who tried through means of propaganda
to make the masses belief that the war was justified and the only way
for the German race to survive as a nation. The minimum sentence was
ten years. When the perpetrator used force to convince others about the
necessity of the war, he or she had to be sentenced to death.
Article 3 of the law requested the prosecution of those who committed
acts of agony and maltreatment. This paragraph of the law targeted
those party and state officials who (mis)used their positions to attack
opponents of the NS dictatorship. Prosecution did not require physical
harm; the exertion of mental pain was sufficient. Whoever verbally
attacked opponents of the NS regime and created an atmosphere of fear
and terror had to face a minimum prison sentence of five years. In
cases where the victim's health had deteriorated as a consequence of
the maltreatment, the perpetrator had to serve prison terms between ten
and twenty years. The death sentence was passed when the maltreatment
had caused the victim's loss of life or when the maltreatment (apart
from the mental/physical pain) severely violated the basic principles
of humanity.
Article 4 of the law addressed offences that were considered
transgressions of humanness and human dignity. According to the
Austrian Supreme Court ruling of July 1948, such offences included any
action that one would even under the most primitive assumptions of
humanity consider inhuman. (14) The minimum sentence was one-year
imprisonment. The perpetrator was sentenced to death when the
transgression resulted in the victim's loss of life.
The law (Article 5 and 6) required similar sentences in cases where
supporters of the NS regime were convicted of crimes such as
expropriations, forced resettlements, and immoral enrichments.Article
7 of the law dealt with cases of denunciation. According to the law,
whoever inflicted harm on an individual with the intent to support the
NS regime or because of other contemptuous motives had to face prison
terms ranging from one to five years. The sentence was increased to ten
years when (a) the informer deliberately made false accusations, (b)
the victim's occupational advancement or livelihood had been endangered
because of the denunciation, (c) the perpetrator and victim had been in
a special relationship (such as marriage), or (d) the denunciation had
been made as to serve the informer's own interest. Moreover, the
informer was sentenced to life imprisoned when the victim had been
sentenced to death because of his or her accusations.
The law specifically targeted those informers who deliberately
submitted reports to the authorities for personal gains and those who
did so because of their support for the Nazis. It was, thus, legal
practice at that time to prosecute those informers who reported
violations of the special laws passed by the NS government, such as the
laws governing the prohibition of new political parties, underground
radio stations, and treason. However, those who reported
violations of laws that had existed before the NS government were
exempted from prosecution when the NS government had not significantly
increased the penalty for such offences. (15)
During the postwar years, some 10,015 trials were held because of
violations of the KVG. About 60 percent of the cases dealt with
denunciation. (16) 2. Transitional Justice after 1957The
KVG was in force until 1957, when the Amnesty Act (Amnestiegesetz) was
passed. The government at that time was of the opinion that after more
than ten years of prosecution, the focus of their anti-Nazi efforts
should shift from prosecution to prevention. The KVG was thus
abolished, but the VG not. As a matter of fact, the VG is still in
force today. Trying to re-establish NS organizations, contacting or
financing such organizations, or producing propaganda material is a
criminal offence under Article 3 of the law and carries a minimum
prison sentence of ten years. If the offender or the action is
particularly dangerous, the penalty is life imprisonment. Being a
member of organizations that pursue the aims of the NSDAP carries a
minimum sentence of five years imprisonment. Moreover, anyone who
denies, grossly trivializes, approves of or seeks to justify the NS
genocide or other NS crimes against humanity in a publication,
broadcast or other media or in any other public manner accessible to
others faces imprisonment between one and ten years.
The law is not only written on paper but also enforced. Several hundred
offenders have been charged and found guilty during the last few years.
The most prominent case in recent history involved the British
historian David Irving, who denied the existence of the Nazi crimes in
two speeches held in 1989. On entering Austria in 2005, he was
arrested, charged under the VG and served a one-year prison term.David
Irving and some right-wing supporters have claimed that the law clearly
violates the freedom of expression. By passing the law, the Austrian
government made it clear that the Nazi crimes were proven historical
facts that need not be proven again in court. Moreover, the European
Court of Human Rights ruled in several instances that the provisions of
the VG were in line with the European Convention of Human Rights.
Article 17 of the Convention explicitly grants governments the right to
protect their democratic values and institutions. (17)
The VG has become part of Austrian history and it should convey the
message that no-one has the right to belittle the numerous crimes
against humanity the Nazi regime had committed. It should also give
respect to the victims, especially to those who survived the terror of
the regime. It is inhuman to glorify and trivialize the NS atrocities
in front of those who suffered and still suffer from the psychological
and physical pain that had been caused by exactly these atrocities.
Denial and belittlement do not contribute to a more human society. On
the contrary, they bring us closer to those who committed the
atrocities.3. Taiwan’s Transitional JusticeI
have observed Taiwanese politics for over ten years. Very often I have
felt deeply depressed about the way politicians, scholars and other
intellectuals deal with the past atrocities committed by the KMT
authorities. Since the 2004 presidential election campaign, I have kept
asking myself how deep the KMT and its supporters could possibly fall.
After all, there must be and end to their contemptuous behaviour. It
seems, however, as if there always were even lower levels of
inhumanity. In the following, I would like to discuss some of the most
depressing attitudes of Taiwan's intellectuals towards transitional
justice. In
March 2004, the KMT presidential campaign headquarters in Taichung
distributed posters that likened President Chen Shui-bian with war
criminal Saddam Hussein and terrorist Bin Laden. (18) Although it is
completely incomprehensible what Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein have to
do with President Chen Shu-bian, the KMT insisted that their posters
were extremely inventive and refused to stop their circulation. The
chief campaign strategists at the KMT headquarters in Taipei considered
the posters a belittlement of President Chen's real character and
decided to look for a more appropriate comparison. Soon, the people of
Taiwan were taught in newspaper advertisements that President Chen
Shui-bian resembled Adolf Hitler. (19) The ad quoted an international
organisation (Freedom House) as saying that under President Chen
corruption had increased and democracy deteriorated. Apart from the
fact that the organisation was intentionally misquoted, the comparison
with Hitler is far beyond the limits of freedom of expression. It
constitutes an inhuman act because the comparison belittles (if not
even negates) the crimes committed by the Nazis. Moreover, it ridicules
the mental and physical pain the victims have suffered. (20) Unfortunately,
the belief that President Chen Shui-bian is Taiwan's Hitler is not only
shared by the KMT leadership but also by a large number of
intellectuals in Taiwan. One of the most prominent examples is Huang
Kuang-kuo (Huang Guang-guo), a professor of psychology at National
Taiwan University. Huang branded Chen Shui-bian a populist and likened
him and the DPP with the Nazis in his book Populism and the End of
Taiwan: A Chronology. (21) Huang Chi-hsian (Huang Zhi-xian), another
prominent intellectual, wrote more explicitly about the close
resemblance of Adolf Hitler and Chen Shui-bian in her book Shuddering
Future: Dismantle Taiwan's New Dictatorship. (22) The book cover shows
Chen Shui-bian's silhouette and a swastika-style party emblem of the
DPP. (23) The reader could also gather from the cover that it was highly
recommended by distinguished intellectuals such as writer and social
critic Nan Fang-shuo. Whenever I showed the book to foreign friends,
they would be deeply shocked about the primitiveness and stupidity of
such publications. The fact that books like those authored by Huang
Kuang-kuo and Huang Chi-hsian are highly recommended and sold in almost
every bookstore in Taiwan is even more alarming. Soon
after the 2004 presidential election soap opera, we could observe the
so-called new democracy movement. And there was James Soong (Song
Chu-yu) standing on a huge platform in front of the Presidential
Palace. He was surrounded by tens of thousands of cheering anti-Chen
activists. Soong used this opportunity to publicly claim that he was
Taiwan's true democracy fighter. He backed up his claim by quoting
former US President Abraham Lincoln. But, where had James Soong been
several decades earlier? Had he not held key positions in the KMT and
the government during the period of White Terror? Had he himself not
played a crucial role in the crackdown of the opposition movement?
Despite his anti-democratic past, he portrait himself as the protector
of Taiwan’s democracy, lavishly quoting Lincoln. And the media
discovered in him a new hero, the leader of a new democracy movement
that would bring back justice and re-establish democratic order. Almost
two years later, President Chen Shui-bian and his wife were told to be
high-profile criminals who had robbed the Republic of China's treasury.
Now the time seemed ripe for all the unemployed democracy activists to
call for a revival of the so-called new democracy movement. Former
opposition leader Shih Ming-teh (Shi Ming-de) emerged as the new leader
of the movement, replacing retired part-time activists James Soong and
Lien Chan. He dug out his political marketing tools of the late 1970s
and modified the fist emblem he used in the 1978 parliamentary election
campaign. Soon, the streets of Taipei were crowded with people giving
President Chen Shui-bian the thumbs down and yelling the phrase abian
xiatai, meaning down with President Chen Shui-bian. In the 1970s, Shih
Ming-teh described former President Chiang Ching-Kuo (Jiang Jing-guo)
and his KMT as criminals, but now he considered them their compatriots.
When Shih Ming-teh’s Red Movement began to cover the island and
the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) asked its supporters to
show unity, Shih Ming-teh attacked President Chen Shui-bian by saying
that the mass mobilisation of supporters had been something Hitler had
played with and that we all knew what the consequences of such actions
had been. But why did Shih Ming-teh compare President Chen with Hitler
not with Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jie-shi) or Chiang Ching-kuo? Highly
respected and influential writer Long Ying-tai answered this question
in full when she wrote in a newspaper commentary that Chen Shui-bian
had been the only criminal and most disgraceful president in the entire
history of the Republic of China. (24) What a statement! Her commentary
truly reflects the thinking of the entire KMT leadership and its
supporters. In
2006, the 2-28 Memorial Foundation released a research report on the
responsibility of the 2-28 Massacre. (25) The report concluded that Chiang
Kai-shek was the prime perpetrator of the massacre. Unsurprisingly, the
KMT and its supporters did not share that view. Consequently, John
Chiang (Jiang Xiao-yan), a descendent of Chiang Kai-shek and a
high-ranking KMT member, filed a libel suit against the authors of the
report. Chiang repeatedly stated that some local officials had caused
the incident. He denied that the KMT or even Chiang Kai-shek had any
responsibility for the massacre. Chiang is not alone with this claim.
KMT Chair Ma Ying-jeou (Ma Ying-jiu) has voiced the same opinion on
several occasions. The strategy of the KMT is to belittle the massacre
and to shred off the responsibility for it. This goal is obtained by
‘educating’ the general public about the 'truth.' In a
recent documentary sponsored by Ma Ying-jeou's Taipei City Government's
Department of Cultural Affairs, for instance, the massacre is portrait
as the mere result of language barriers. The
KMT's diffusion strategy also includes the holding of conferences on
the massacre, annual visits to victims, and occasionally some words of
apology. Such apologies are vague and far from being honest, though.
How honest can John Chiang be? Did he not fight court battles to obtain
the right to use the family name of his father, former dictator Chiang
Ching-guo? How serious can Ma Ying-jeou be when he protects John Chiang
and glorifies his ancestors? Chiang Ching-kuo had people killed and
tortured, and his father had even been worse. He was a mass murderer, a
textbook example of a ferocious dictator. He not only had civilians
killed, he also killed them with his own hands. The KMT itself has a
history of torture, extortion, rape, drug trafficking, arson, bribery,
and murder. These are historical facts! According to moderate
estimates, Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT brutally killed about ten
million civilians on the mainland. (26) The Encyclopaedia of Genocide and
Crimes Against Humanity writes that Chiang Kai-shek: “ordered
the arrest and execution of hundreds of communists and trade unionists
in Shanghai in April 1927 [...] From 1927 to 1949, Chiang's troops used
murder, torture, and other brutal tactics to wipe out the communists.
In one campaign [...] the KMT killed or starved to death as many as one
million people [...] They executed prisoners, communist sympathizers,
and collaborators. They looted, raped women, and gunned down civilians
as they passed through villages and towns. [...] The Nationalist
government, corrupt and greedy, did little to ease the suffering from
famine, drought, and war. It was responsible for perhaps as many as two
million famine deaths during its rule. An estimated four million men
died during forced conscription alone. In one battle, to deter the
advancing Japanese troops, the Nationalists opened the Yellow River
dikes, drowning at least 440,000 people in the ensuing flood.” (27)The
2-28 Massacre is only a very, very small part of the whole picture of
horror and destruction. Do John Chiang and Ma Ying-jeou seriously want
to claim that Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo and their own party
were not responsible for the thousands of crimes against humanity that
had been committed during their dictatorships? Who set up and
controlled the network of terror? Who instructed the torture of
civilians? Who ordered the shootings of anyone who voiced his or her
opinion against the regime? Do Chiang and Ma really mean to say that
some local officials and language barriers were to blame for these
widespread and systematic human rights abuses? With such ferocious
statements the KMT leadership engages in historical revisionism as
David Irving did with his book Hitler's War. (28) But,
how about Ma Ying-jeou's own involvement in the KMT atrocities? In
1998, a group of intellectuals claimed in a newspaper advertisement
that Ma Ying-jeou worked as a spy for the KMT. (29) His activities
included the filing of reports on the anti-KMT activities of his fellow
students at Harvard University. Ma has ever since denied such claims.
Others defended Ma by saying that he had only done his duty. Several
years later, the same allegations were made against Jason Hu (Hu
Zhi-qiang), another high-ranking KMT member and incumbent mayor of
Taichung. Jason Hu spent ten years in the UK pursuing his studies at
Oxford University. He, too, denied any spy activities. I wonder how
naïve somebody must be to believe that both of them did not pass
on any single piece of information about the activities of their fellow
citizens. Both were members of the KMT, both received benefits from the
KMT for their efforts. Jason Hu even used his ten years as a party
worker in the calculation of his public official retirement benefits.
If people did indeed face reprisals because of their denunciations then
both were accessory to the crimes against humanity the KMT and its
related organisations had committed. They would be responsible for such
crimes because they were fully aware of the inhuman consequences of
their actions. Moreover, they were both neither legally, physically nor
mentally forced to make the denunciations. Thus, they cannot excuse
themselves by saying that they only did their duties. (30) Even if both
‘merely’ made propaganda for the KMT during their student
years, they could still be considered criminals under the principle of
praesumito iuris ac de jure, when taking into account that both of them
had held higher positions in the KMT and government hierarchy during
the martial law period. Of course, Ma and Hu were not the only
informers. But what is distressing is the fact that they are highly
respected for what they have done and that their crimes are belittled
if not even justified—at home as well as abroad. Ma
Ying-jeou has repeatedly spoken of a new KMT, a party with high moral
standards, a party that fights corruption and so forth. But where are
these high standards? Has the top leadership of the KMT distanced
itself from Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo? Has the KMT distanced
itself from itself? Have the former KMT officials be sanctioned? On the
contrary, they have been declared heroes and Chiang Kai-shek a man of
noble character. His mass killings and other crimes against humanity
are honoured. Nothing illustrates this more than the Chiang Kai-shek
Memorial. The memorial has become a symbol of the KMT's resistance
against justice and dignity. It has created a country with two value
systems. At the other end of the diametrically opposing value system we
find the victims. The 2-28 Memorial Hall symbolizes their pain and
suffering. The
glorification of the Chiang family turns criminals into heroes and
dictators into fathers of democracy. Wu Nai-teh (Wu Nai-de), a
sociologist at the Academia Sinica, appears to be one of the very, very
few local scholars who have openly challenged the misconception that
Chiang Ching-kuo initiated democracy in Taiwan. He notes in one of his
papers that Chiang Ching-kuo was everything but favourable of democracy
(Wu, 2004). (31) According to Wu, Chiang had a low regard for the rule of
law and human rights. Moreover, he believes that Chiang's only
contribution to Taiwan's democracy was that he had removed the main
obstacle to democratisation, namely his own dictatorship. James Soong
and the media consequently attacked Wu Nai-teh for his 'outrageous'
criticism. They belittled the significance of Wu Nai-teh’s
statement by saying that he was seeking a position in the DPP
government or that he just wanted to be famous. The most ignorant and
unsophisticated analyses could naturally be found in Taiwan’s
print media. One commentary in the China Post, for example, expressed
regret that Wu Nai-teh had used his academic expertise to serve
political interests. Joseph
Wu (Wu Zhao-xie), former chair of the Mainland Affairs Council, could
not be more right when he pointed out that a significant part of
Taiwan's intellectuals suffers from the so-called Stockholm syndrome.
Joseph Wu's interesting observation reminded me of the famous girl in
box (32) and writer Long Ying-tai's series of lectures called Saloon. In
her Saloon lectures Long Ying-tai usually elaborates on her historic
mission to 'enlighten' the people of Taiwan. Her Saloon lecture series
indeed covers a range of interesting topics that are scarcely discussed
in Taiwan. (33) However, her enlightenment tends to end up in pure KMT
propaganda when Taiwan's political situation is discussed. During the
lectures I attended, she showed her clear preference for the KMT
leadership while strongly attacking Chen Shui-bian. In her view, Chen
had caused enormous damage to Taiwan's society and economy. She
vigorously defended her belief that Chen had provoked China with his
policies. She may dislike Chen Shui-bian and his leadership style, but
blindly adopting the opinions expressed by the KMT, and cheerfully
supporting the leadership of the same organisation that has brutally
killed millions of civilians has absolutely nothing to do with
enlightenment. How can she deny and belittle the atrocities the KMT had
committed? Does enlightenment mean writing newspaper commentaries that
portray Chen Shui-bian as the only criminal and most disgraceful
president in the entire history of the Republic of China? Isn't her
statement a crime by itself? Aren't the systematic and widespread
denial and belittlement also crimes against humanity? Isn't Lung
Ying-tai with her statements an accessory to such crimes? How can Lung
Ying-tai's foundation enlighten people when people like Nan Fang-shuo
are among its board members? How could she support Nan Fang-shuo's
endorsement of Huang Chi-hsian's book that describes Chen Shui-bian as
Taiwan's Hitler? Where are the high intellectual standards she praises
herself to be in possession of? Enlightenment
is the process of critically questioning the existing norms and
traditions. Enlightenment is to assist the people in obtaining the
ability to think critically and not to teach people what they should
think. This concept was fully understood by the activists of the
student movement of the early 1990s. Chen Hsin-hsing (Chen Xin-xing),
one of participants, writes in an essay that the aim of the movement
was not to attack the government and at the same time blindly support
the opposition. (34) On the contrary, the movement doubted the necessity
of yet another leader the people should unquestioningly support. The
movement believed in a society that was able to make its own decisions
rather than in a society that has decisions forced upon by some
leaders. (35) The 1990 student movement reflected to the fullest extent
the true meaning of enlightenment. Chen also notes that the movement
failed to materialise their ideas. The so-called new student movement
of 2004 and the Red Movement of 2006 have confirmed Chen's assessment.
Both movements lacked the ability to question the motives of the elite
and to question their own. They were mere puppets of elitist circles,
the executioners of the same leadership group that had seized their
ability to seriously question the nature and implications of their
actions. The two movements have propelled Taiwan's society back to
where it was at the beginning of the 1990s: No progress towards
enlightenment in sight.
Furthermore, I do not have the impression that enlightenment is the aim
of a growing number of Taiwan's intellectuals. The so-called new
democracy movement, for example, has shown its preference for
communitarian ideas over liberal values. The movement's emphasis on
communitarian concepts is reflected in the writings of its leaders,
such as Huang Kuang Kuo (Huang Guang-guo). (36) The same criticism holds
for several TV programme hosts, such as Sisy Chen (Chen Wen-qian), and
politicians, such as Ma Ying-jeou, who glorify China and its leaders
despite the fact that China has one of the world's worst human rights
records. China's growing economic importance cannot be denied, but this
does not mean that we have to look up to its dictatorial leaders and
teach Taiwan's youth to become like Hu Jin-tao. Ma Ying-jeou's
statement is distressing because it conveys the message that economic
growth justifies inhumanity. (37) Taiwan
has over 150 institutions of higher education. One would assume that
these institutions could assist in the attempt to enlighten Taiwan's
society. But the Red Movement proved otherwise. The streets of Taipei
were crowded with yelling people making thumbs-down gestures. The
media, the KMT and other intellectuals spoke of a great moment in the
nation's history. Justice would come soon, the unscrupulous, ferocious,
corrupt president would soon be gone, and the great Republic of China
would once again emerge on the horizon as to protect the people of
Taiwan from all evils. The period of the Red Movement was a time of
enormous intellectual discourse. University professors dressed in red
showed their unlimited support for the new leader, the protector of the
great Chinese nation. Half a million people dressed in red were said to
have participated in protests on the streets of Taipei. The
intellectual elite of the KMT, of course, was there too. After all, the
participants could enjoy artistic performances while sharing free food
and drinks. Everybody was curious to find out what would be next on the
programme. Not only artists could perform there, intellectuals from all
walks of life could express their opinion. Students joined the
programme, too. Some of them repeated their leader's opinion that Chen
was corrupt and should step down. Others were more intellectual and
rephrased songs and poems. They seemed all to be extremely excited
because they were live on TV. They were the heroes of a great
revolution. The world would remember them as the true fighters for
justice and democracy. It was simply in vogue to be on TV and to attack
Chen Shui-bian. Even primary school kids learned their anti-Chen poems
and presented them at school. One intellectual thought that it would be
funny to disguise himself as Chiang Ching-kuo and publicly attack Chen
Shui-bian. A few decades earlier, Shi Ming-teh had been a victim of the
very same Chiang Ching-kuo. But as the leader of the Red Movement he
now had to find Chiang Ching-kuo's appearance amusing. But who would
take things too seriously? After all, it was only a carnival. The
Hong Kong weekly Yazhou Zhoukan reported extensively on the Red
Movement. At the end of September, for instance, the magazine ran a
cover story entitled 'Island of Sadness, Wave of Anger: Six Years
President Chen and 16,000 Suicide Cases.’ From the title of the
story, the reader can easily grasp the motives of the journalist. He or
she tries to compare the 2-28 Massacre with Chen Shui-bian's
presidency. (38) The story asserted that President Chen's policies had
harmed Taiwan's society and economy. According to the author of the
story, all of the 16,000 people who had committed suicide during
President Chen's term had done so because of his policies. According to
the story, Chen Shui-bian had thus 'killed' more people than the KMT
government in the 2-28 Massacre. What a statement! As I quoted a Hong
Kong weekly, people may think that such inhuman claims can only be
found on the mainland, where the media is controlled by the Beijing
government. But they are wrong. The same absurd statements are common
occurrence in Taiwan. The Red Movement reflects the abrupt downward
trend in Taiwan's intellectual discourse and the well-coordinated
attempt to diffuse the issue of transitional justice. The Red Movement
was no coincidence. The attacks on Chen Shui-bian are part of an
attempt to stigmatise those who ask for transitional justice. In the
eyes of the KMT and its supporters Chen is an enemy because he points
at the truth and by doing so he endangers their personal (economic)
interests – interests in Taiwan as well as in mainland China. 4. Conclusion and Policy SuggestionsIn
the first part of my paper, I have explained the legal consequences of
the Nazi atrocities. We have learnt that the Austrian government passed
several special laws as to deal with those crimes. The most important
were the Prohibition Act and the War Criminal Act. The first was
designed to prevent the re-occurrence of a Nazi state and to provide a
legal framework under which Nazi crimes could be prosecuted. The latter
law was necessary as existing laws either did not cover several crimes
or their punishment appeared too lenient given the nature of the
crimes. In
the second part of my paper, I looked at the current anti-Nazi
legislation. We have learnt that the Nazis had been tried under the War
Criminal Act until 1957. In that year, the government was of the
opinion that after more than ten years of prosecution, the focus of
their anti-Nazi efforts should shift from prosecution to prevention.
The War Criminal Act was thus abolished, but the Prohibition Act not.
As a matter of fact, it is still in force today. The belittlement,
denial, justification and glorification of the crimes committed by the
Nazis are criminal offences with the maximum sentence of life
imprisonment. As I mentioned earlier, the law should prevent future
crimes against humanity and it should give respect to the victims,
especially to those who survived the terror of the regime. The Austrian
government believes that it is inhuman to glorify and trivialize the NS
atrocities in front of those who suffered and still suffer from the
psychological and physical pain that had been caused by exactly these
atrocities. Denial and belittlement do not contribute to a more human
society. On the contrary, they bring us closer to those who committed
the atrocities. From
the third part of the paper we have gathered that Chiang Kai-shek,
Chiang Ching-guo and the KMT have committed crimes against millions of
civilians on the mainland. In Taiwan, they have brutally killed tens of
thousands of civilians and committed other crimes against humanity.
Nevertheless, none of the perpetrators has been charged and tried under
existing laws. As several legal theorists, such as Chen Chi-long (Chen
Zhi-long) and Huang Mao-rong pointed out, the perpetrators could be
tried for most of their crimes under the existing legal framework. (39)
But still there seems to be no interest in prosecuting the
perpetrators. There are several minor reasons and one main reason for
such a regrettable situation. The main reason is that the majority of
the population either suffers from the Stockholm Syndrome or believes
that the crimes were necessary and excusable. As I have pointed out in
my paper, there are influential intellectuals who understand the
seriousness of the crimes but still feel sympathetic to the
perpetrators. As to the perpetrators themselves, the KMT leadership and
its supporters have adopted two key strategies on how to deal with the
crimes. The first involves denial, belittlement, glorification and even
justification. A more recent approach is to accept the crimes as
historical facts, but deny the involvement of the KMT and its leaders.
The second key strategy is to stigmatize those who ask for justice. The
activities of the Red Movement and the attacks on Wu Nai-teh and other
scholars are examples here. As
I pointed out earlier in this paper, the widespread and systematic
denial and belittlement of the KMT crimes and the glorification of
their prime perpetrators are crimes by themselves. I believe they
constitute crimes against humanity under international law. (40)
Considering Taiwan's international status this fact is, however, only
of theoretical value. Still, it shows the seriousness of such behavior
from a legal perspective. Applying
what I have mentioned earlier about the Austrian transitional justice
system, I should like to propose eight normative measures that should
help the victims of the KMT atrocities to obtain the dignity they
deserve. 1) Dissolution of the KMT and all its related organizationsThe KMT and its organizations have to be dissolved immediately. Their property must be transferred to the State.
2) Prohibition of re-establishment of the KMT and its related organizationsAny
attempt to re-establish the KMT or any of its related organizations,
contacting or financing such organizations, or producing propaganda
material should be declared a criminal offence with a minimum prison
sentence of ten years. If the offender or the action is particularly
dangerous, the penalty should be life imprisonment. 3)
Prohibition of glorification and denial of the crimes committed
by Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo, the Kuomintang
and its related organizationsAnyone
who denies, grossly trivializes, approves of or seeks to justify the
KMT atrocities in a publication, broadcast or other media or in any
other public manner accessible to others should face imprisonment
between 1 and 10 years. If the offender or the action is particularly
dangerous, the penalty should be life imprisonment.
4) Removal of all relics and symbols associated with the KMT dictatorshipAll
effigies of Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo or other key leaders in
the KMT movement should be banned. The same ban should be applied to
symbols of the KMT, such as the party emblem. 5) Establishment of a special foundationThe
foundation should be the main agency in dealing with issues related to
transitional justice in Taiwan. Its major aim is to oversee the
restitution of property and the compensation of victims, to finance
research related to the KMT atrocities, to educate the general public
about the KMT crimes against humanity and to promote preventive
measures. 6) Prosecution of crimes against humanity committed during the Nationalist periodThe
perpetrators should be tried in accordance with existing laws. If
necessary special laws should be enacted to deal with crimes against
humanity as defined by international law. 7) Enforcement of compulsory atonement measuresSupporters
of the KMT and its organisations should be separated into two groups.
The first comprises those supporters who held key positions in the KMT
or the government before 1987. The second group composes of those who
held lower positions in the KMT or government hierarchy. Atonement
measures for the first group of perpetrators should include a lifetime
ban on holding government positions, the payment of a special tax for 5
years, and the confiscation of a considerable portion of the property
they owned in 1987. They should also be barred from holding positions
in universities and other educational institutions. Perpetrators of the
second group should have to face lighter atonement measures. 8) Educational reformHistory
books and other educational material should clearly mention the
atrocities committed by the KMT and its related organisations. Chiang
Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo and the KMT should be named as the prime
perpetrators of the atrocities committed during their dictatorships. Considering
my analysis of Taiwan's intellectuals, none of these measures seems
likely to be ever implemented, though. Notwithstanding, I do believe
that it would be beneficial to Taiwan's society if the people of Taiwan
could escape their mental imprisonment and opt for a more human
society.
Numerous
local scholars have criticised my approach as being 'not helpful' and
'inappropriate.' Why? Because they think the KMT is right when it
points out that after all it was the KMT and its dictators who turned
Taiwan into one of the world's largest economies. Without the KMT
there would be no Taiwan. This view is echoed by a growing number of
foreign scholars, especially by Anglo-Americans, and foreign
journalists. In Taiwan as well as abroad, they have become the core
defenders of the KMT atrocities. For example, on 28 February 2007,
the sixtieth commemoration day of the 2-28 Massacre, I had the
opportunity to exchange views regarding the KMT's dark past with a
number of foreign journalists and academics. Most of whom applauded
the pro-Chiang commentaries they had read on the internet or in local
newspapers and told me that they had been particularly impressed with
the following commentary printed in the English-edition of the China
Post:
"It was a nice Chinese New Year holiday, unusually
long (nine days in a row), with good weather (not warm nor cold and
mostly no rain), no newspaper for five days and most of the political
talk dhows vanished from the screen. It was a rare tranquil time for
family get-togethers and relaxation. Most gratifying of all,
President Chen Shui-bian maintained a surprising low profile
throughout the holiday, doing or saying little to irritate his
enemies in Beijing, friends in Washington, or critics at home. But
yesterday, the first day of work, Chen resumed his anti-China
campaign by defaming the late President Chiang Kai-shek as the “prime
culprit” of the infamous 1947 “2-28 Incident”, which resulted
in ten to thirty thousand civilians killed and Taiwan's governor
executed. Chiang's rule began after his arrival in 1949. Tomorrow,
the Chen-DPP government will hold various activities to mark the 60th anniversary of the tragedy, hoping to score points in an election
year. Despite his authoritarian rule, Chiang is a shining symbol of
the Republic of China. Without Chiang, there would be no Republic of
China, and certainly no President Chen, nor prosperity, democracy and
security for Taiwan today. Chen would be doing a big favour for
Taiwan and himself if he kept his holiday low profile through his
retirement on May 20, 2008." (41)
I believe that it does not make sense to link the KMT's atrocities
and the superiority of the mainland Chinese with Taiwan's prosperity.
From a scientific point of view, there is neither any evidence that
the Taiwanese are more stupid than the mainlanders, nor is there any
evidence that there is a positive correlation between
authoritarianism and economic prosperity. Even if there were such
evidence, the belief that a superior race is obliged to rule others
by any means (including the systematic and widespread torture and
brutal killing of civilians) is inhuman and in violation of our
highly praised values of freedom and democracy. Does eight or ten
percent economic growth justify atrocities? Should we have a law
allowing crimes against humanity based on a regime's economic
performance? Considering the Western
euphoria about democracy and human rights, there simply is no logical
reason why Western intellectuals defend the KMT and hold President
Chen and his party in contempt. Western scholars tend to closely
follow Taiwan's mainstream intellectuals and consequently find
themselves trapped in the same illogical path of reasoning: We should
not talk about the past and the atrocities committed by the KMT.
Talking about such things is inappropriate, since such discussions
would inevitably lead to political disorder if not even to civil war.
People should not waste their time on such useless discussions; they
should concentrate on the economy instead. Taiwan's economic
situation has deteriorated under President Chen who has talked too
much about the KMT's past. Only people who support Taiwan's
independence talk about the KMT's dark history as to gain popular
support at the polls. Taiwan should unify with China. It is good for
Taiwan and good for everybody. I have encountered local
and Western scholars who claimed that other East Asian countries,
such as South Korea, performed better in economic terms than Taiwan
and pinned the blame for Taiwan's 'deteriorating economy' on
President Chen's permanent 'irresponsible attacks' on the KMT. As a
matter of fact, South Korea has established a truth commission to
investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity committed by
previous governments and there has not been any sign of an economic
disaster because of it. The truth is that the West
lacks any logical reason (Erklaerungsnotstand) for defending the KMT
and tries to construct arguments that are designed to cover its
ignorance and indifference. Notes
(1)
StGBl. Nr. 13/1945
(2) Winfried
Garscha R.,
“Entnazifizierung
und gerichtliche Ahndung von NS-Verbrechen,”
in
NS-Herrschaft
in Oesterreich,
ed. by Emmerich Talos, Ernst Hanisch, Wolfgang Neugebauer and
Reinhard Sieder
(Wien: Oebv,
2000),
858.
(3) Garscha,
Entnazifizierung,
858; Dieter Stiefel,
Entnazifizierung
in Oesterreich (Wien:
Europaverlag, 1981).(4) Garscha,
Entnazifizierung,
859.(5) Garscha,
Entnazifizierung,
860.(6) Garscha,
Entnazifizierung,
861.(7) Dokumentationsarchiv
des Oesterreichischen Widerstandes, “Verfahren vor
oesterreichischen Volksgerichten,”
http://www.doew.at/thema/vg/vg.html#wien (accessed December 17,
2006).(8) Garscha,
Entnazifizierung,
864.(9) Rundbrief,
Juni 1999, p. 9.(10) Rundbrief,
Juni 1999, p. 9.
(11) StGBl.
1/1945
(12) Garscha,
Entnazifizierung,
515.
(13) Rundbrief,
Juni 1999, p. 14.
(14) OGH
3.7.1948, EvBl. 909/48. In this case, members of the SS claimed that
their arbitrary house search was not a transgression of humanness and
human dignity.
(15) Heinrich
Gallhuber and Eva Hopfer,”Die Einzelnen Bestimmungen des KVG,”
Justiz und
Erinnerungen, no. 4
(2001): 33. See also Guido Tiefenthaler, Denunziation
waehrend der NS Herrschaft im Spiegel der Volksgerichtsprozesse
(Wien: Universitaet Wien, Diplomarbeit, 1995.
(16) Heimo
Halbrainer, “Der Angeber musste vorhersehen, dass die Denunziation
eine Gefahr fuer das Leben des Betroffenen nach sich ziehen werde,”
in Holocaust und
Kriegsverbrechen vor Gericht
ed. Thomas Albrich, Winfried R. Garscha and Martin F. Polaschek
(Innsbruck: Studienverlag, 2006), 230.
(17) Felix
Mueller, Das
Verbotsgesetz im Spannungsverhaeltnis zur Meinungsfreiheit: Eine
Verfassungsrechtliche Untersuchung
(Wien: Verlag Oesterreich, 2005).
(18) I believe
that a comparison between Chiang Kai-shek and Saddam Hussein would
have been more in line with historical facts.
The two posters can be viewed at:
http://www.eastasia.at/vol3_1/binl.htm and
http://www.eastasia.at/vol3_1/saddam.htm.
(19) The
ad can be viewed at: http://www.eastasia.at/vol3_1/ad1.htm.
(20) The
same holds for the posters distributed by the KMT in Taichung.
(21) Huang
Guang-guo, Populism and the End of Taiwan: A Chronology [mingcui wang
tai ji] (Taipei: Democratic Action Alliance, 2004). (22) Huang,
Zhi-xian, Shuddering Future: Dismantle Taiwan's New Dictator [zhanli
de weilai: jiegou taiwan xin ducai], revised edition (Taipei: Miluo,
2004).
(23) The
cover can be viewed at: http://www.eastasia.at/dpp_hitler.htm.
(24) China
Post, 24 August 2006, A3.
(25) Li,
Yan-Xian, Yang Zhen-long and Zhang Yan-Xian ,eds., Report on The
Responsibility for the 228 Massacre [ererba shijian zeren guishu
yanjiu baogao] (Zhonghe: 228 Memorial Foundation).
(26) Rummel,
R. J., Death by Government (Transaction: New Brunswick, 1994).
(27) Encyclopaedia
of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, ed. Dinah L. Shelton (
Thomson: Farmington Hills, MI, 2005), 170-71.
(28) In
this book, Irving argues that although the Nazi crimes occurred,
Hitler had neither real or direct responsibility for what happened
nor knowledge about it. His thesis was not shared by the
international community and Irving was soon identified as “one of
the most dangerous spokesmen” for the denial of the Nazi crimes.
As
I mentioned in the second part of this paper, Irving was later
arrested in Austria for similar statements under the Prohibition Act
and served a one-year prison term. Deborah,
Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust. The Growing Assault on Truth and
Memory (New York: New York Free Press, 1993), 181.
(29) The
ad can be viewed at: http://www.eastasia.at/issue2/ad6.htm.
(30) See
Richard Lange, “Ueber das Denunziantenproblem,” Sueddeutsche
Juristenzeitung (1948): 302-12; and Tiefenthaler, Denunziation.
(31) Wu
Nai-de, “Reformer or Dictator? Reassessing the Role of Chiang
Ching-guo in the Democratic Transition” [huiyi jiangjingguo,
huainian jianggingguo], Proceedings of the Seventh Conference of the
National Archives (National Archives: Taipei, 2004), 467-502.
(32) The
girl in the box: About thirty years ago, a girl was abducted and held
in captivity for seven years. During that time, she had to sleep in
coffin-like box under the perpetrator's bed. She was consistently
tortured and sexually abused to the point of complete mental and
physical subservience. Whenever there was a chance to escape she
would not run away. When the police found her she stated that she had
lived in a consensual love relationship with the perpetrator. She
objected the idea that she had been a victim. On the contrary, she
was thankful to the perpetrator. The perpetrator himself denied any
wrongdoing and stressed that he had only fatherly protected the girl.
(33) The
lectures are officially organized by her foundation
(www.civictaipei.org).
(34) Chen
Xin-xing, “My Wild Lily: Self-Criticism of a Participant in the
March 1990 Student Movement” [wode yebaihe – yige 1990 nian
sanyue xueyundong canyu de wo piping], Taiwan: A Radical Quarterly in
Social Studies, no. 54 (2004): 253-76.
(35) Juergen
Habermas made the same conclusions in his critique of the left
movement in Germany.
(36) Huang
Guang-guo, Populism and the End of Taiwan [mincui wang tai lun],
second edition (Taipei: Cite, 1996).
(37) I
am inclined to think that the entire KMT leadership really believes
in such a concept.
(38) Island
of Sadness (beiqing daoyu) should remind the reader of the famous
film City of Sadness (beiqing chengshi) – a film about the 2-28
Massacre.
(39) Chen
Zhi-long, “The Legal Responsibility for 2-28 Massacre: Criminal
Law” [ererba shijian tusha xingwei de xingshi falue zeren], in
Report
on The Responsibility for the 228 Massacre [ererba shijian zeren
guishu yanjiu baogao] ed. Li
Yan-xian, Yang Zhen-long and Zhang Yan-xian (Zhonghe:
228 Memorial Foundation, 2006), 491-533. Huang
Mao-rong, “The
Legal Responsibility for 2-28 Massacre: Civil Law” [ererba shijian
zhi minshi zeren], in Report
on The Responsibility for the 228 Massacre [ererba shijian zeren
guishu yanjiu baogao] ed. Li
Yan-Xian, Yang Zhen-long and Zhang Yan-xian. (Zhonghe:
228 Memorial Foundation, 2006), 535-51.
(40) The
prosecution of inhuman acts such as the denial and belittlement of
crimes against humanity has so far depended on national legislation.
From a theoretical point of view, though, they could be considered
crimes, namely crimes against humanity. Recent UN Resolution
A/RES/61/255 condemning the denial of the Nazis crimes, recent
legislation in a number of EU countries and the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court have opened new channels of
interpretations.
(41) China
Post, 'De-Chiang is anti-history,' 27 February 2007. References
Chen, Zhi-long
(2006), ‘The Legal Responsibility for 2-28 Massacre: Criminal Law’
[ererba shijian tusha xingwei de xingshi falue zeren], in Report
on The Responsibility for the 228 Massacre
[ererba
shijian zeren guishu yanjiu baogao]
edited by Li
Yan-hsian, Yang Zhen-long and Zhang
Yan-xian.
Zhonghe:
228 Memorial
Foundation:
491-533.
Chen, Xin-xing
(2004), ‘My
Wild Lily:
Self-Criticism
of a Participant in the March 1990 Student Movement’
[wode yebaihe – yige 1990 nian sanyue xueyundong canyu de wo
piping], Taiwan:
A Radical Quarterly in Social Studies,
no. 54: 253-76.
Encyclopaedia of Genocide and
Crimes Against Humanity (2005), edited by Dinah L. Shelton, Thomson:
Farmington Hills, MI.
Gallhuber,
Heinrich and Eva Hopfer (2001), 'Die Einzelnen Bestimmungen des KVG,'
Justiz
und Erinnerungen,
no. 4: 32-4.
Garscha R.,
Winfried (2000), 'Entnazifizierung und gerichtliche Ahndung von
NS-Verbrechen,' in NS-Herrschaft
in Oesterreich
edited by Emmerich Talos, Ernst Hanisch, Wolfgang Neugebauer and
Reinhard Sieder. Oebv: Wien, 852-83.
Halbrainer,
Heimo (2006), 'Der Angeber musste vorhersehen, dass die Denunziation
eine Gefahr fuer das Leben des Betroffenen nach sich ziehen werde,'
in Holocaust
und Kriegsverbrechen vor Gericht
edited by Thomas Albrich, Winfried R. Garscha and Martin F.
Polaschek. Innsbruck: Studienverlag.
Huang,
Guang-guo (1996), Populism
and the End of Taiwan [mincui
wang tai lun], 2nd edition. Taipei: Cite.
Huang,
Guang-guo (2004), Populism
and the End of Taiwan: A Chronology [mingcui
wang tai ji]. Taipei: Democratic Action Alliance.
Huang, Zhi-xian
(2004), Shuddering
Future: Dismantle Taiwan's New Dictatorship
[zhanli de weilai: jiegou taiwan xin ducai], revised edition. Taipei:
Miluo.
Huang,
Mao-rong (2006), ‘The
Legal Responsibility for 2-28 Massacre: Civil Law’ [ererba shijian
zhi minshi zeren], in Report
on The Responsibility for the 228 Massacre
[ererba
shijian zeren guishu yanjiu baogao]
edited by Li
Yan-xian, Yang Zhen-long and Zhang
Yan-xian.
Zhonghe:
228 Memorial
Foundation:
535-51.
Lange, Richard
(1948), 'Ueber das Denunziantenproblem,' Sueddeutsche
Juristenzeitung
(1948): 302-12.
Li, Yan-Xian,
Yang Zhen-long and Zhang
Yan-xian
ed.
(2006),
Report
on The Responsibility for the 228 Massacre
[ererba
shijian zeren guishu yanjiu baogao].
Zhonghe: 228 Memorial
Foundation.
Lipstadt,
Deborah
(1993), Denying
the Holocaust. The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory.
New York: New York Free Press.
Mueller, Felix
(2005), Das
Verbotsgesetz im Spannungsverhaeltnis zur Meinungsfreiheit: Eine
Verfassungsrechtliche Untersuchung,
Wien: Verlag Oesterreich.
Rummel, R. J.
(1994),
Death
by Government,
Transaction: New Brunswick.
Stiefel, Dieter
(1981), Entnazifizierung
in Oesterreich, Wien:
Europaverlag.
Tiefenthaler,
Guido (1995), Denunziation
waehrend der NS Herrschaft im Spiegel der Volksgerichtsprozesse,
Universitaet Wien, Diplomarbeit.
Wu, Nai-de
(2004), ‘Reformer or Dictator? Reassessing the Role of Chiang
Ching-guo in the Democratic Transition’ [huiyi jiangjingguo,
huainian jianggingguo], Proceedings
of the Seventh Conference of the National Archives:
Taipei, 467-502.
Christian Schafferer is
an associate professor at the Department of International Trade, The
Overseas Chinese Institute of Technology (Taiwan) and a visiting
professor at the Department of Political Science, Meiji University
(Japan). |