7/18/2018

Declaration of 20 July (2018) Action at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Chhengliân To̍kphài 20 July 2018


On 28 February of this year, we the Chhengliân To̍kphài (“Youth for Independence”) entered Chiang Kai-shek’s Cíhú Mausoleum located in Tāikhe (Mandarin Dàxī) and spilled paint on his sarcophagus. Following arrests made and files charged on the part of the local administration, the first hearing is set to take place at 2:20 p.m. today (20 July) at the Thôhn̂g (Táoyuán) District Court.
 
This morning, Chhengliân To̍kphài entered Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in central Tâipak (Mandarin Táiběi) — built to commemorate the most notable dictator and mass murderer in Formosan history — to splatter red paint symbolizing the blood of the oppressed over the unfortunate seat of power of the Republic of China.
 
Since our actions of February 28, the sarcophagus of the Chinese dictator at Gûkaklàmpi (Mandarin Cíhú) has been restored to its previous state. The Formosan freedom fighters of Chhengliân To̍kphài, on the other hand, have faced extralegal arrests and charges at the hands of the local layer of the colonial state.
 
We once again urge the ruling party to act on removing the monuments of dictatorship, as specified in the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice. Formosan opposition to Republic of China colonization will never cease.
 
We understand that it is almost structurally impossible for the outcome of today’s hearing to help further Formosan independence, freedom, democracy, and human rights on a legal level. However, our causes far transcend the level of colonial law. Our causes lie at the level of political choices made and to be made by Formosans based on identity, history, conscience, and values deeply held. The current legal issues as framed by the colonial administration are tangential to the heart of the matter. Formosan independence and transitional justice do not depend on their outcome.
Genuine democracy cannot be had without transitional justice. Transitional justice cannot be had without national independence. A “neutralized” Republic of China — a “re-clothed emperor” — can in no way serve as Formosa’s “nation”. The Republic of China is nothing but the Chinese Nationalist Party’s greatest asset. This is as true today as it was in 1949, when said party lost the Chinese Civil War and moved the remains of its republic onto Formosa. A pack of oppressors will never make decent headmen. The Republic of China is today Formosa’s chief enemy.
Transitional justice does not entail making concessions to conservative forces. Transitional justice does not entail “maintaining the status quo” for the sake of avoiding conflict. True reconciliation can only happen in the context of building a truly free, just, democratic, and unstintingly independent nation, free of dictator-worship, for those who are coming after us. The colonial Republic of China state seized power on Formosa through brutal repression and mass murder. It has stayed in power by turning Formosans against Formosans. Its constitution clearly points to the “reunification” of China as inevitable and desirable (“為因應國家統一前之需要...”). For Formosa, for Formosans, the Republic of China will never be any part of the answer. A Formosan rebirth into freedom requires the establishment of a new nation rooted in native identity and a native understanding of history; based on new and newly-reconnected values; and realized through active self-determination.
 
#OurDemands
1. The monuments of dictatorship shall be cleared off Formosa. Formosan resources shall not be used to water the memory of a dictator.
2. “Chiang & Son Cultural Park” shall be decommissioned. Dictatorial legacies are not tourist resources.
3. Freedom of expression shall be recognized as a basic human right, not a blessing or gift from the Republic of China.
4. The Republic of China must fall to make way for a new Formosan nation. Formosan colonial resistance, past, present or future, cannot be viewed as a crime.
 
It is 2018. The Republic of China, exiled from China for the better part of a century and counting, has no reason to exist. The nations of the world seek relationship and communion with Formosa. This is the time for the Republic of China to bite the historical dust and yield to a new, just Formosan nation.

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