Control Yuan Cites Delay in KMT Political Archives Transfer; National Development Council Says 226 Boxes Recovered

(CNA Taipei, June 30) Control Yuan members today pointed out that political archives should be transferred to the state, but the National Development Council (NDC) and other receiving agencies have not been proactive enough, leading to delays. The NDC stated in the evening that after the Kuomintang (KMT) refused seven times, 226 boxes have been recovered in accordance with the law. Preliminary judgment indicates that some archives indeed involve cases related to the KMT's party affairs organizations during the authoritarian period and the monitoring of overseas individuals, which require further review.

Control Yuan members Fan Sun-lu, Lin Yu-jung, and Kao Yung-cheng stated in a press release today that according to the law, political archives should be transferred to the state. However, the Ill-gotten Party Assets Committee found that the KMT still has internal political archives that have not been reported. The NDC and other receiving agencies have not actively utilized the powers granted by law, nor have they effectively cooperated with judicial agencies, causing the review of related archives to be delayed for nearly six years. The Executive Yuan should supervise the competent authorities to make improvements.

The NDC issued a press release in the evening to make three points. First, in May of this year, the NDC recovered 226 boxes of archives. Between September 2023 and February of this year, the KMT refused six times to present or cooperate with the inspection of political archives held in its Banqiao warehouse. On May 26 of this year, the NDC dispatched its Archives Administration to the KMT warehouse to request the archives of the Work Committee. The KMT refused for the seventh time, and therefore, in accordance with Article 15 of the Act Governing the Promotion of Transitional Justice, 226 boxes of archives were recovered. The KMT was notified to send personnel to cooperate with the Archives Administration in opening and inventorying the archives starting from June 16, to proceed with the subsequent review.

The NDC explained that second, archives are true records preserving history, and the collection of political archives is an indispensable part of the nation's transitional justice project. Since the opening of the aforementioned 226 boxes of archives, preliminary judgment indicates that some archives indeed involve party affairs organizations such as the KMT's "Cultural Work Committee" and "Overseas Work Committee" during the authoritarian rule period, as well as archives related to cases of book and periodical censorship and import control, cooperation with intelligence agencies and overseas missions to monitor overseas individuals, and crackdowns on overseas pro-independence activities, which require further item-by-item review.

The NDC stated that third, the Archives Administration is actively accelerating the process of opening and inventorying the archives. After all archives have been opened, priorities will be set according to the content of the archives for phased implementation. Those highly relevant will be prioritized for review and transfer, followed by the supplementary cataloging, repair, digitization, and opening of the archives. (Editor: Lin Hsing-meng) 1150630

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