Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/19/2020
By: Lin Chang-shun and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) Taipei District Court ruled Friday that the diaries of former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) dating from their terms in office are property of Taiwan's government, while those from their years as private citizens belong to the Chiang family.

The court's decision, after five years of litigation, found that portions of the diaries from the two presidents' terms in office belong to the Academia Historica under the Presidential and Vice Presidential Records and Artifacts Act, while the portions dating from outside those years can continue to be held as private property.

The dispute over the diaries dates to 2005, when Chiang Ching-kuo's daughter-in-law Chiang Fang Chih-yi (蔣方智怡) signed an agreement for the diaries to be curated for 50 years by Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

After receiving conflicting claims of ownership to the diaries, Stanford University filed an interpleader action in the United States in 2013 to determine who held legal rights to the documents.    [FULL  STORY]