Academia Historica will hold a book launch and symposium on the publication of the diaries of former Republic of China President Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正) on Oct. 31, the state archive said Monday.
The event, titled "Chiang Kai-shek's diary (1948-1954)," will be held in collaboration with the Republic of China History and Culture Society, it said.
The publication comes after the diaries of former ROC presidents Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), previously housed at Stanford University's Hoover Institution Library & Archives, were returned to Taiwan in September.
The 59 boxes of documents delivered to Academia Historica included the two former presidents' diaries dated between 1917 and 1979, as well as private letters, manuscripts, telegrams, microforms, official documents and other historical materials.
The return of the Chiang diaries has been a major historical milestone for Taiwan, Academia Historica said.
After the first volume of Chiang Kai-shek's diaries from between 1948 and 1954 is published, other volumes will be published in chronological order starting in 2024, Academia Historica said.
Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) headed the Nationalist government in China from 1928 to 1949 before retreating to Taiwan after his forces lost the Civil War and setting up an authoritarian regime. He remained in power until his death in 1975.
His son Chiang Ching-kuo (1910-1988) served in various administrative and security roles in the 1940s in China and in later decades in Taiwan before serving as president from 1978 to 1988.
