Taiwan Marks 37th Anniversary of End of Martial Law
37 years after the martial law period ended, Taiwan's government is reexamining that part of the country's history.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Monday marks 37 years since martial law ended in Taiwan in 1987.
00:05Since then, the country has become a democracy. But the current administration wants to make
00:10sure the dark history of Taiwan's authoritarian past is not forgotten.
00:15Tiffany Wong joins us from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.
00:19Tiffany, how is this anniversary being marked?
00:24Well, Eric, this changing of the guard ceremony here on Democracy Boulevard
00:28is just one of the examples of how Taiwan's been grappling with that dark period in its history.
00:34Monday marks the first day that the ceremony has been moved outside. It used to be held in
00:40the Memorial Hall dedicated to Chiang Kai-shek, who was Taiwan's leader at the time the white
00:45terror started. Now, Chiang is the man that many hold responsible for the atrocities
00:51that occurred during that period of martial law, the longest period of martial law at the time,
00:56lasting 38 years. The decision to remove the honor guard comes as part of a campaign to
01:05take down that glorification of authoritarianism associated with Chiang. And President Lai Ching-teh
01:12also visited the archives administration to look at some newly declassified documents related to
01:18white terror, also part of a campaign to fix that part of Taiwan's history head on.
01:27But these decisions are still divisive. Many see it as a way of erasing Chiang's legacy,
01:50good or bad. Now, for many, Chiang still remembered as a strong leader who helped to
01:56keep the Chinese Communist Party at bay and also made significant contributions to Taiwan's society
02:02and economy. But for thousands who were imprisoned and even killed during that period of white
02:09terror and their families left behind with those memories, these transitional justice efforts
02:15could not be enough for them.