Text: Lin Huowang
The "Committee for Promoting Transitional Justice", a second-level independent organ established in 2017 and subordinate to Taiwan's "Executive Yuan", announced on September 8 the "Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Park Transformation Plan", which will be transformed into a historical park for reflection on authoritarianism in the future, and it is recommended that the bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek be removed.
The members of this committee have a clear political stance, so this unit almost always acts according to the DPP's ideology on some sensitive issues. During Chiang Kai-shek's reign, the situation on both sides of the strait was tense, and the ruler's mentality of "preferring to kill a hundred by mistake and not spare one" was understandable, so the unjust and false verdicts caused by it should be compensated for innocent victims and their descendants, which was completely uncontroversial in Taiwan society. However, the personal evaluation of "Chiang Kai-shek" is not the consensus of Taiwan society, so the move to promote the transfer of the meeting immediately aroused emotions of support and opposition, and added to the uneasiness of society.
It is doubtful whether the promotion of the transfer will be done at a time when the new crown epidemic has not yet been lifted to divert the focus: on the one hand, let the people not pay full attention to the chaos of the DPP government's epidemic prevention; on the other hand, extend this issue to next year's local county mayoral elections, and use consciousness to overwhelm the incapacity of the government. But in any case, touching one of the most sensitive nerves in Taiwanese society at this time does not seem very just.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan has not yet been lifted.
As we all know, Taiwanese society has different interpretations of the history of the old Chiang Kai-shek's deeds. Some people think that the old Chiang Kai-shek brought gold, cultural relics of the Forbidden City, and more importantly, talents from the mainland; Yan Jiagan, Yin Zhongrong, Li Guoding, Sun Yun, and Zhao Yaodong successfully transformed Taiwan from an agricultural society into an industrial society, laid the foundation for Taiwan's economic take-off, and created the so-called "economic miracle" of Taiwan; even now, "TSMC," which still plays an important role in the global industrial chain, was also the object of Li Guoding's information industry policy support. Some people believe that Lao Jiang was the culprit of the "228 Incident", the initiator of the "White Terror", the executioner and the symbol of authoritarianism, so he was the enemy of freedom and democracy.
The Transfer Promotion Committee clearly supports the historical interpretation of the "political" side and completely ignores chiang kai-shek's economic contribution to Taiwanese society. But shouldn't a society that prides itself on "freedom" and "democracy" judge the merits of the old Chiang Kai-shek from the perspective of "economy" be considered and respected? If the DPP can do whatever it wants because it is now a one-party leader, doesn't that turn into the "tyranny of majority" of inferior "democracy"? Did the members of the Facilitating Transfers consider their views to be the only truth, so that they did not have to take into account the feelings of their opponents? If so, isn't it an "authoritarian" mentality in itself?
One might argue that the facilitators are also citizens and can have their own opinions, and that opponents should respect their views. There is no doubt that if the members of the Transfer Promotion Committee are individual "citizens", of course, they can have their own historical interpretations, but as a person with "public office status", they should not make decisions in the form of "individual" consciousness, but should stand in the perspective of "the whole people". Because they have "public power" and can implement policies, if they think about problems and formulate policies from a personal point of view, it is "public instruments for private use."
The members of the Promotion Committee thought that "renewing the building" would allow them to "reflect on authority", which fully demonstrated their misunderstanding of "freedom" and "democracy".
In fact, true "authoritarianism" is internal, not external. Even in the era of absolute monarchy, there may be enlightened monarchs who create a peaceful and prosperous world of Fu Minyin; in a Taiwan that has been liberalized and democratized, people with different political stances can be described at every turn as "people who do not love Taiwan," "selling Taiwan cliques," and "common passers-by," and they do not allow others to "love Taiwan" in different ways, which is not only a great irony about "freedom," but also the essence of "authoritarianism." Institutional democratization is not the same as mentality democracy.
Liberalization in Western societies began in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and democratization was even later. So strictly speaking, Western civilization before the sixteenth century was a product of the authoritarian era, but can we reflect on authoritarianism only by eradicating all the civilizations of the authoritarian era?
The biggest problem in Taiwanese society now is not the system, but the freedom and democracy of the soul. On July 15, 1987, Mr. Chiang Ching-kuo announced the lifting of the "order to lift the strictness," so Taiwan society has long since lifted the strictness, and there is no "authoritarianism" in the "system" of politics and economics, but the people of Taiwan are still full of exclusivity, humiliation, hatred, and hostility toward people with different political stances, abusing "freedom" and misunderstanding "democracy." The most urgent problem in Taiwan at present is "the liberation of the strictness of the mind": tolerating differences is the free mind.
"From authoritarianism to democracy" is a difficult spiritual project, it is a change of lifestyle, change of values, that is, the work of changing culture, not overnight; to promote the transfer committee to think that "renewing architecture" can "reflect on authority", fully demonstrate their understanding of "freedom" and "democracy", and only stay in the wrong ordinary common sense. "Removing the bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek" is definitely not the best solution to remove "authoritarianism," but rather a catalyst for creating social antagonism; moreover, I do not believe in the existence of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, which hinders the pace of liberalization and democratization of Taiwanese society.
Therefore, if the Transfer Promotion Association wants to "reflect on authoritarianism," the most important thing is definitely not to renovate the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and remove the bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek, because at most this is only "external" and superficially removes what they think is "authoritarianism", which will not help the authoritarian power that generally remains in the hearts of the people; and if their proposal is realized, unless the purpose is really to divert the focus of the DPP's ruling incompetence, it will only create greater social antagonism and increase hostility and hatred among compatriots.
Just like eliminating the three evils everywhere, the most important thing for the transfer committee members to do is to eradicate the authoritarianism in their hearts first!
(The author is an adjunct professor at the Department of Philosophy, National Taiwan University)