More than 330,000 historically significant documents pertaining to late Republic of China (Taiwan) President Chiang Kai-shek are available online as of May 17, according to Taipei City-based Academia Historica, one of the world’s leading institutes dedicated to studying ROC and Taiwan history.
Also known as Daxi archive, the collection comprises diaries, letters, maps, photographs, telegrams and other records from 1925 to 1975. Chiang served as ROC president from 1948 to 1949 in mainland China and from 1950 to 1975 in Taiwan.
Many of the documents contain confidential information and were only recently declassified by several central government agencies. The majority of these are accessible via the website, while the rest can be viewed at Academia Historica after obtaining permission from the institute.
Wu Mi-cha, director of Academia Historica, said the archive can be more easily accessed through a 12-volume catalogue released May 16, adding that a further 14 volumes will be published next year.
The declassification and digitization of Chiang’s archives are in line with government efforts to ensure full and free access to public sector data, according to Academia Historica.
Taiwan has taken a number of steps promoting access to government data. These include promulgating the Freedom of Government Information Law in 2005 and establishing an open government data platform in 2012.
The nation also topped the rankings of 121 countries and territories in the 2016 Global Open Data Index conducted by U.K.-based nonprofit organization Open Knowledge International. (CPY-E)
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