Suchergebnisse

The leaked minutes of a high-level meeting on 17 October 1984 reveal the plans of Taiwan's military government for further suppressing 'thought pollution', 'cultural pollution' and 'illegal opinions' The following are the minutes of a secret meeting of high officials in Taiwan in which the participants discuss how political dissent, especially unofficial magazines, can most effectively be controlled or repressed. The island is ruled under martial law administered by the Taiwan Garrison Command, which explains why most of those taking part in this meeting are military figures. Taiwan also has numerous other security agencies, many of which were represented at the meeting. The document was leaked from within the Taiwan government, and made public by three men sued in the Peng-lai Tao ( 'Neo-Formosa') magazine case, which is referred to in the document. Their purpose in releasing it was to demonstrate that the 'libel suit' which had been brought against them was actually part of the government's campaign of political repression. The text is taken from the Chinese-language weekly Fa-yang ( 'Development') No 11, 21 January 1985. Fa-yang attempted to publish the text, but the government discovered the magazine's plans. The issue was banned and Fa-yang has been suspended from publication for one year. Two other independent magazines also attempted to publish this document. One was Dongbei Feng, No 3, 22 January 1985 (actually, Neo-Formosa under a new name), which was banned and confiscated. The other was the moderate magazine The Asian, No 1, 19 January 1985, half of whose press run of 20,000 copies was confiscated. Although outlawed, many copies of the magazines with the document which we print here were circulated underground. The document has been seen by a high party official, who implicitly confirmed its authenticity. Minor deletions and explanatory comments are given in square brackets. Transliterated names are given in the manner preferred by the Chinese Nationalists (roughly approximating to the Wade-Giles system). Otherwise, however, the transliteration follows the more internationally recognised pinyin system. In addtion to the minutes, other documents have come to light such as a table of projects to be undertaken by the government against dissidents. This table (in Chinese) is available from the Society for the Protection of East Asians' Human Rights, PO Box 1212, New York, NY 10025, USA. James D. Seymour, an Associate Research Scholar at the East Asian Institute of Columbia University (New York), comments on the leaked minutes and Taiwan's system of censorship and repression.