Minister of Culture Shih Che received a 21-member delegation from the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany on Oct. 5. Minister Shih expressed appreciation towards the foundation for sharing their expertise in progressing transitional justice in Taiwan.
Dr. Anna Kaminsky, CEO of the foundation, said that they were looking forward to coming to Taiwan and learning how cultural legacies are being managed in public space. The delegation visited the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, the National Human Rights Museum, and the Nylon Cheng Memorial Museum, and also went to Kaohsiung to see the 228 Peace Memorial Park and the War and Peace Memorial Park.
Markus Meckel, chair of the foundation, mentioned that it took a long time to develop a national approach to the management of historical sites of injustice in Germany, adding that building a consensus on transitional justice is the most crucial thing.
Minister Shih stated that Taiwan has its own unique development in democracy, and is still facing a lot of obstacles in forming a consensus on transitional justice among the people. He said that younger generations tend to feel indifferent to these issues partly because they did not live through an authoritarian regime, and partly because they are weary of issues that are highly politicized by politicians.
In order to attract young people's attention to the issues of transitional justice, a variety of mainstream media such as drama and songs are used to create awareness, Shih added. As an example, Shih referred to "Detention (返校)," a horror movie adapted from a popular video game set in the 1960s Taiwan under martial law. He hopes that more young adults will be interested in transitional justice issues through cultural contents.
In 2019, the governments of Taiwan and Germany signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work on transitional justice, which was Taiwan's first-ever collaboration with a foreign country on related issues. Following the MOU, the Cultural Division of the Taipei Representative Office in Germany and its counterpart jointly organized a series of events in both countries, including workshops, exhibitions, film festivals, to promote transitional justice, human rights, and democracy.