A quick correction: Huang Kuo-shu, the DPP legislator who was revealed to be an informant, did not resign his position. He did resign his DPP membership but continued to serve as an independent up until two weeks ago when his term ran out. The fact that discussion over the revelation lasted barely a week or two, and was never brought up again, really shows how much the issue of transitional justice has faded from public attention these past few years.
It sounds like Taiwan essentially adopted the Spanish model! And for similar reasons. In Spain too the left essentially never had the juice, until recently, to pick fights with the right over issues of historical memory. It simply wasn't worth expending political capital over. Transitional justice seems reserved for situations where there are clear victors. It's interesting you didn't mention a fourth model--the US's after the Civil War or England's after the Boer War--where the victors won outright and yet made peace with the losers and effectively allowed them to take over the government within a few generations.
Quick note about how many years Taiwan has been under martial law. it's been 38 years, not 42 years as stated in this article. According to the National Human Rights Museum, martial law was promulgated in Taiwan by the Taiwan Garrison Command on May 19th, 1949 and was effective on the following day. On July 14, 1987 President Chiang Ching-Kuo declared that martial law would be lifted on July 15. Thank you for writing this. It was a very insightful piece!
A quick correction: Huang Kuo-shu, the DPP legislator who was revealed to be an informant, did not resign his position. He did resign his DPP membership but continued to serve as an independent up until two weeks ago when his term ran out. The fact that discussion over the revelation lasted barely a week or two, and was never brought up again, really shows how much the issue of transitional justice has faded from public attention these past few years.
It sounds like Taiwan essentially adopted the Spanish model! And for similar reasons. In Spain too the left essentially never had the juice, until recently, to pick fights with the right over issues of historical memory. It simply wasn't worth expending political capital over. Transitional justice seems reserved for situations where there are clear victors. It's interesting you didn't mention a fourth model--the US's after the Civil War or England's after the Boer War--where the victors won outright and yet made peace with the losers and effectively allowed them to take over the government within a few generations.
Quick note about how many years Taiwan has been under martial law. it's been 38 years, not 42 years as stated in this article. According to the National Human Rights Museum, martial law was promulgated in Taiwan by the Taiwan Garrison Command on May 19th, 1949 and was effective on the following day. On July 14, 1987 President Chiang Ching-Kuo declared that martial law would be lifted on July 15. Thank you for writing this. It was a very insightful piece!