After hanging over the entrance of the Presidential Office since 1948, a sign criticized as a relic of authoritarianism was replaced yesterday by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, officially changing the office's name.
The name of the Presidential Office was "Chiehshou Hall" -- literally "Long live Kai-shek Hall" -- and the building had a marble sign with its name inscribed in Chinese characters (
The new sign, installed yesterday, reads simply "Presidential Office" in Chinese characters (
A statement by the Presidential Office said the move reflected not only the real sense of the building's name but also had constitutional meaning.
The marble sign reading "Chiehshou Hall" will be placed in the Academia Historica for public display, said a statement issued by the Presidential Office's Department of Public Affairs yesterday.
The department said the move was appropriate, because the building is where the president and vice president work, rather than a specific individual's personal villa or hall.
"Changing the name over the building's entrance from `Chieh-shou Hall' to `Presidential Office' not only makes the building worthy of its genuine name, but also carries constitutional meaning," the statement said.
colonial past
The Presidential Office's history stretches back to the Japanese colonial era. It was designed by the architect Uheiji Nagano in 1910, and was completed in 1919. The building, which was the office of the Japanese governor-general of Taiwan, was bombed by Allied forces during World War II, on May 31, 1945. Part of the building was destroyed in the bomb attack, and burned for three days.
One year after the war ended, the Taiwan Provincial Government raised funds to restore the building. The rehabilitation project was completed in 1948, and the building was named "Chiehshou Hall."
When the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was defeated by the Chinese Communist Party during the Civil War, the remnants of its forces fled to Taiwan in 1949. The building became the office of the president and the premier in 1950. The office of the premier was later moved out of the building, in 1957.
The department said that as Taiwan has transformed from an authoritarian state to a genuine democracy, the name change was necessary and symbolized the restoration of power from the state to the people.
The department said that it began planning the change in October.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus yesterday said the name change "liberates Taiwan's democracy."
"Naming all the important buildings after Chiang Kai-shek (
`boring' move
However, opposition lawmakers criticized the Presidential Office, saying the move was "boring" and meaningless. Some equated the change to China's Cultural Revolution.
"Taiwan's 23 million people should be the focus of the government. Unfortunately, our government only cares about something like this. Changing names? I think there are a lot of better things to do, aren't there?" said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Pan Wei-kang (
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (
"If [the DPP government] wants to do something remarkable, I would suggest it focus on economic and criminal issues, because these issues concern everyone of us," Lee said.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said the Presidential Office was merely doing something that needed to be done.
"What do you want to call the president's office if you do not call it the `Presidential Office?'" said DPP legislative caucus secretary-general Yeh Yi-ching (
The change should have "been made a long time ago, anyway," Yeh added.
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
‘IRRESPONSIBLE’: Beijing’s constant disruption of the ‘status quo’ in the Taiwan Strait has damaged peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, MOFA said The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China’s launch of another military drill around Taiwan, saying such actions are a “unilateral provocation” that destabilizes regional peace and stability. China should immediately stop the irresponsible and provocative actions, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said, after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) yesterday announced the start of a new round of joint exercises around Taiwan by the army, navy and air force, which it said were approaching “from different directions.” Code-named “Justice Mission 2025,” the exercises would be conducted in the Taiwan Strait and in areas north, southwest, southeast and east of Taiwan
RSS