President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of December 2 attended the opening ceremonies of the International Conference on Chiang Kai-shek's Diaries and the Study of Republican Chinese History. The president voiced strong support for the public release of these documents, which he described as highly important from an historical perspective, as their release helps to promote research into the Republican era of Chinese history.
The president remarked that the late President Chiang Kai-shek was the primary leader of Republican China from the 1920s to the 1970s. This period also marked the time during which the Republic of China truly became a modern nation, he said. President Chiang played a vital role in many of the era's most important historical events, such as the Xinhai Revolution (The Chinese Revolution of 1911), the Northern Expedition (1926-1928), the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945), post-war China, and the administration of the ROC government in Taiwan, he said. The president noted that Chiang Kai-shek's diaries fill 55 volumes and cover events spanning over half a century from 1917 to 1972. President Chiang was singular among the world's leaders, demonstrating a high degree of perseverance and determination, he remarked, adding that while history has viewed the late president in many different lights, his position as an important historical figure is undeniable.
President Ma stated that scholars in Taiwan have won steadily increasing freedom over the past several decades to pursue their historical research. In the field of modern history, for instance, the president said that the opening of public access to the Archives of President Chiang Kai-shek, commonly known as the "Daxi Files," and the gradual release of information in the Nationalist Party's archives, has enabled many scholars to have a better understanding of the historical dynamic of the period. This also demonstrates that there is nothing that should be considered off limits or taboo in the research of our history, he said.
President Ma stressed the enormous contribution that Chiang made in recovering Taiwan from Japan and then defending and developing it. Both the ruling and opposition parties have made contributions in enabling Taiwan to become a free and democratic society that stresses rule of law and human rights, the president said. However, he pointed out that if the nation had not begun implementing elections 60 years ago, it seems highly likely that several generations of political figures would never have emerged.
As we approach the nation's centenary, the president said that the political changes of 1949 should not prompt us to think that China's republican history was cut short at that time, or to underestimate its significance. He said that in recent years scholars on the other side of the Taiwan Strait have shown increasing interest in republican history. This shows that a re-assessment of this history is needed, and the Chiang Kai-shek diaries are sure to play a vital role in this process, he said.
The president stated that Taiwan's development over the past decade exceeds what the revolutionaries many decades ago could have envisioned, and this is something in which we all should take pride. However, now that we enjoy freedom, democracy, human rights, and rule of law, we must not forget that it is the sacrifices of many martyrs that paved the way for these accomplishments. We must give them the historical status they deserve, he said. Any historical figure will have strengths and weaknesses, the president said, and this is particularly true of political figures. The members of a free and democratic society, and those who engage in academic research, must abide by the credo of revealing the truth and correctly evaluating history, even though competing views of the past may exist side-by-side, he said.