You Si-kun: Restore the Facts of Post-War History, Build Taiwan's Democratic Defenses
Taiwan's democratic identity movement is pushing to rewrite the official account of the island's post-war history, a politically charged effort aimed at hardening resistance to Beijing's claims.
- Former legislative speaker You Si-kun said the Chiang regimes deliberately buried and twisted Taiwan's post-war history to push the line that Taiwan has always belonged to China.
- He pointed to past statements by Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai that at various times backed Taiwanese independence, arguing the record contradicts that line.
- The remarks came at a forum marking the centenary of Koo Kwang-ming's birth, held by the foundation bearing his name, honoring a figure who funded pro-independence publishing from exile during the White Terror years.
- The call was explicit: digging out the real record is groundwork for a "normal country" — dignified, independent, constitutionally sound.
- Former president Chen Shui-bian had been scheduled to attend but did not appear.
Outlook: Expect continued pressure from the independence camp to revise how Taiwan's post-war history is taught and remembered, a fight Beijing will read as a step toward formal separation.