ROC National Security Bureau (NSB)
In order to promote transitional justice and the openness of political archives, the National Security Bureau (NSB) previously took the initiative to conduct an inventory of the possessed archives. Following sixteen months of intensive work, the NSB has completed the declassification of all political archives from the martial law period. As of February 23 this year (2026), all physical archives, along with their digital image files, have been transferred to the National Archives Administration (NAA) of the National Development Council.
In accordance with the Political Archives Act and the Principles and Priorities for the Review of Political Archives issued by the NAA, since November 2024, the NSB has proactively mobilized all personnel across the agency to conduct a two-phase inventory of the possessed archives dated prior to 1992, including those from the martial law period.
In the first phase, the NSB conducted a comprehensive inventory of the possessed archives dated prior to 1992. Altogether, 23,757 folders, equivalent to 566,415 items, were reviewed. The review results and archival catalogues were submitted to the NAA, and a total of 1,369 folders comprising 51,133 items were determined by the NAA as political archives in June last year (2025).
In the second phase, the NSB conducted the manual review of the 51,133 items determined by the NAA as political archives in the manner of folder-by-folder, item-by-item, and page-by-page. The processes include declassification and digitization.
All political archives dated prior to 1992 have now been declassified and made fully public and accessible in accordance with the law, without any redactions. The physical archives were packaged into 94 archival boxes and, along with their digital image files, transferred to the NAA in batches. All transfers have been completed as of February 23 this year.
The political archives declassified and transferred to the NAA cover a wide range of subjects, including “public security and counterintelligence system during the martial law period,” “records on surveillance and public security work conducted by intelligence agencies,” “investigations of publications and anonymous letters containing anti-authoritarian content,” “entry and exit control of Taiwanese nationals,” “activities of overseas Taiwan independence groups,” “records and criminal judgments of individuals involved in rebellion cases,” etc.
As part of the self-review process, the NSB conducted the examination on a folder-by-folder and item-by-item basis to assess whether any historical archives had been destroyed. However, archives from decades ago were compiled into folders and archived by individual officers in charge, and there were no itemized records for each document within those folders. Therefore, it cannot be determined whether any of those archives was lost or destroyed at that time. Since 2005, the NSB has reprocessed archives dated prior to 2001 by assigning serial numbers to individual items and affixing the corresponding labels.
The openness of political archives is of critical importance for investigating the truth, setting historical records straight, and promoting social reconciliation. At the main memorial ceremony marking the 78th anniversary of the 228 Incident last year, President Lai stated that the government will accelerate its work to make political archives available for public access and to clarify the facts of history. In view of this, the NSB has conducted the comprehensive inventory, declassification, and transfers of all possessed martial law-era political files under DG Tsai’s instructions of “facing history to pursue the truth” and “leaving no political archives withheld and no content redacted.” These efforts are intended to ensure that the development context of Taiwan’s democracy as well as the nation’s collective memory are passed down through generations. The NSB will adhere to our core ethos of upholding the Constitution and acting in accordance with the law.
From the year 2000 to October 2024, pursuant to NAA’s requirements, the NSB conducted eight rounds of comprehensive inventory and transfer of the possessed archives. Combined with the results of the latest 16-month self-initiated review, a total of 140,758 items contained in 4,685 folders across 1,871 files have been declassified and transferred to the NAA (see the appendix for details).
For more information, please refer to
Appendix: Declassification and Transfer of Political Archives Possessed by the NSB
Secretariat
National Security Bureau
Republic of China (Taiwan)
February 22, 2026
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