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A comparison of transitional justice in Taiwan and East Germany

by David Reid This article was published in the May 2009 editon of Dianmo, a German student magazine about Sinology !ou can download the complete issue at http"##dianmo wordpress com#2009#0$#%$#&ulturspezial# Transitional justice is a major challenge facing states that make a transition from authoritarianism to democracy. Huntington writes that transitional justice in third wave countries is little affected by legal and moral considerations. It was shaped almost e clusively by politics! by the nature of the democrati"ation process! and by the distribution of political power both during and after the transition.# The e periences of Taiwan and $ast %ermany! which both emerged from authoritarianism in the late &'()s! make for an interesting contrast and illustrate Huntington*s thesis. +artial ,aw ended in Taiwan in -uly &'(.. /lthough the 0+T might have slightly rela ed its grip on power at that time it certainly didn*t give it up. / blacklist preventing foreign and e iled Taiwanese dissidents from entering Taiwan was maintained until &''1. / number of violent incidents and large scale protests occurred in this period. It was the +arch &'') 2ild ,ily protest that led to 3resident ,ee convening a 4ational /ffairs 5onference and the Taiwanese were finally able to elect the representatives of the 4ational /ssembly in December &''&. The first direct 3residential election took place in &''6 with the incumbent ,ee Teng7hui winning a majority of the vote. Taiwan e perienced a transition to democracy without a simultaneous transition of power. /s democracy developed the 0+T remained the primary political power and the apparatus of the party7 state largely remained in place. It was not until 1))) when D33 candidate 5hen 8hui7bian was elected as 3resident that a full transition of power finally took place. $ven then the 0+T still maintained a majority in the ,egislative 9uan. 5ompare this situation with $ast %ermany. 2hen the :erlin 2all fell in 4ovember &'(' the people rapidly took power. 5iti"ens* committees were formed that sei"ed control of the files in town halls and more importantly in the +inistry of 8tate 8ecurity. Round tables were formed to monitor the actions of the transitional government and work out the basis for democratic transformation. The central round table forced the transitional government to dissolve the +inistry for 8tate 8ecurity. The +inistry employed &))!))) people and had accumulated masses of data from surveillance of the local population. ;ree elections were held on &( +arch &''). The election was won by the /lliance for %ermany#! a coalition of parties. They faced a massive task in preparing the country for reunification within si months. <ne of the key tasks for the new government was to remove the dictatorial structures and strip the old leaders of their structural and material power. ,ocal elections were held on 6 +ay &''). This enabled the citi"ens! who had previously had no political power or e perience! to take control and strip the local cadres of power at the grassroots level. /nother task was transforming the judiciary. /lmost all the staff in the judiciary were members of the 8ocialist =nity 3arty of %ermany >8$D?. 5ommittees were set up to e amine every single judge and about half the judges were allowed to remain in office. These were just a few of the issues addressed by the 3eople*s 5hamber during $ast %ermany*s transition. There were others such as legal reform and reorganisation of the police force.

<ne of the biggest challenges was the 8$D party assets. The 8$D had accumulated vast assets during @A years of dictatorial rule. / law was passed to put the assets of the 8$D and associated organisations that e isted on . <ctober &'(' into trust. /n independent commission and the trustee were then responsible for liBuidating and disbursing the assets. /ssets were returned to the former owners or successors in title if the ownership was proved. The commission returned assets to the 8$D and other organisations when the assets had been acBuired lawfully. Remaining assets were realised for non7 profit purposes! especially the economic restructuring of the states of the former %DR. Taiwan*s e perience provides a stark contrast. In the years immediately following the lifting of martial law many of the strict controls of the dictatorial state remained in place. The process of democratisation took place gradually over a decade under the leadership of ,ee Teng7hui. /s previously noted it was not until 1)))! &C years after the end of martial law! that the opposition party was elected to the presidency and took control of the e ecutive branch of government. ,ee*s contribution to the development of Taiwan*s democracy was enormous. However! it was achieved from within the 0+T and this limited ,ee*s capacity to act in ways that did not have support of at least some sections of the party. 2hile great strides were made in the development of elections and political participation there were not simultaneous efforts to remove the vestiges of the 0+T*s dictatorial past. Hence this created a conundrum. The 0+T established its political legitimacy through elections! yet it was never subject to transitional justice. This is further illustrated by the treatment of the 11( Incident. 11( refers to the events surrounding 1( ;ebruary &'@. when Taiwanese rebelled against the rule of the 0+T and were met with a violent crackdown which killed more than &)!))) people. ,ee ordered an independent report into the event and subseBuently took part in numerous acts to commemorate 11(. / committee was set up to pay reparations to the victims of 11( and later the 2hite Terror period. /s a result victims were compensated but the wrongdoers were never prosecuted or named. 2hat Taiwan has achieved in the area of transitional justice has largely been in areas which don*t directly challenge the power of the 0+T. 4umerous 11( memorials and human rights museums have been established. There have been many documentaries and books on 11( and the 2hite Terror period. During the 1)))71))( period the D33 undertook a program of name rectification. 8tate owned companies and institutions that had references to 5hina or the R<5 in their names had these changed to Taiwan. 8tatues of 5hiang 0ai7shek were removed from many locations and most controversially! the 5hiang 0ai7shek +emorial Hall in central Taipei had its name changed to Taiwan Democracy +emorial Hall. It should be noted that the 0+T has acted to revert some of the name changes after returning to power in 1))(. The tackling of harder issues such as a Truth 5ommission and 0+T party assets have never been realised. The D33 raised the issue of party assets a number of times while it was in power. 8ome accused it of using the issue simply for political gain during elections. The D33 was limited in the actions it could take because it lacked a majority in the legislature. The 0+T has continually failed to make any efforts to reform itself. ;or Taiwan transition without justice creates a dilemma. /ll Taiwanese now enjoy the fruits of democracy! but the party of the former authoritarian regime retains its political power. The challenge for Taiwan is how to achieve transitional justice without engendering further social and political division. It demands either a broad based grassroots movement or skillful leadership from the top. :oth seem lacking in Taiwan at present as society is split along a strong political divide.

References /rrigo! ,inda %ail. ;rom Democratic +ovement to :ourgeois DemocracyD The Internal 3olitics of the Taiwan Democratic 3rogressive 3arty in &''&.# 5hapter A. The 'ther Taiwan" %9($ to the )resent. +urray /. Rubenstein >$d.?. +.$. 8harpe! 4ew 9ork! &''@. 5hen! 9i7shen. Transitional justice is not just electioneering.# Taipei Times . -anuary 1))(. de +ai"iere! ,othar. Transition of the former %erman Democratic Republic >%DR? and the liBuidation of the assets of the 8ocialist =nity 3arty of %ermany# >8$D?.# 3roceedings of the International 5onference on 5omparative 8tudies of Transitional -ustice! Taipei! 1( -uly 1)).. ;ischer! +alte. The review of the assets of the communist =nited 8ocialist 3arty of %ermany E 8o"ialistische $inheitspartei Deuschtlands >8$D? E of the former %erman Democratic Republic >%DR?.# 3roceedings of the International 5onference on 5omparative 8tudies of Transitional -ustice! Taipei! 1( -uly 1)).. Huntington! 8amuel 3. The Third *a+e" Democratization in the ,ate Twentieth -entury. =niversity of <klahoma 3ress! &''C. Tsao! Ronald 5hin7jung. +useums for peaceD Identity of Taiwan*s peace museums and human rights parks.# I4T$R5<+ 1))6 5onference 3aper. 2u! 4aiteh. Transition with -ustice! or -ustice without HistoryD Transitional -ustice in Taiwan.# 3aper presented at International 5onference on 3olitical 5hallenges and Democractic Institutions! 4ational Taiwan =niversity! C7@ December 1))@. 9u! 8usan. Drastic cut e pected in dissident blacklist.# .ree -hina /ournal &) -uly &''1.

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