The Ministry of Culture yesterday said it is working on a bill to reinvent the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) Memorial Hall, which, if passed, would see the Taipei landmark renamed and most, if not all, of the authoritarian symbols associated with Chiang removed.
“We all know that the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall was built during the nation’s authoritarian era to commemorate a dictator,” Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) told a Taipei news conference to outline the ministry’s work to promote transitional justice.
“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the 228 Incident and the 30th anniversary of the lifting of martial law. In order to come to terms with history and the damage done, and to pay respect to human rights, we believe that it is necessary to reinvent the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall,” she said.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
The ministry is working on a draft amendment to the Organization Act of National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Management Office (國立中正紀念堂管理處組織法), which is to be reviewed by the Cabinet and the legislature, she said, adding that the ministry hopes the draft can be passed into law within the next six months, during the upcoming legislative session.
The ministry this month pulled merchandise bearing Chiang’s portraits — including figurines, stationery and accessories — from souvenir stores in the building, Cheng said.
The merchandise can still be bought elsewhere, but it would no longer be manufactured, Cheng said.
Photo: CNA
The ministry has restored the names of exhibition halls and performance venues that were later named after Chiang and his relatives, because the original titles were more generic and thus are not viewed as authoritarian symbols, she said.
For example, the Jie Shi Exhibition Hall, whose title adopted an alternative version of Chiang’s name, was seen yesterday to have regained its original title: “The Second Exhibition Hall.”
Broadcasts of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Song — played twice a day as the hall opens and closes — are to be replaced by announcements informing visitors of the facility’s opening hours, Cheng said.
Photo: Chen Yi-chuan, Taipei Times
The ministry this month assembled a panel of experts and academics to assess its plans to repurpose the edifice and gather public opinion on the issue, she said.
In response to media queries over whether the building would be renamed the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, a name proposed by the Ministry of Education in 2007, Cheng said the title is being considered by the ministry, adding that the act must be amended before the building’s name can be officially changed.
She reiterated the necessity of amending the act when asked whether exhibits and artifacts associated with Chiang would be removed from the building, as the act stipulates that work to archive and maintain artifacts related to Chiang be performed by the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Management Office.
Photo: Chen Yi-chuan, Taipei Times
Asked whether statues and busts of Chiang would be removed and the daily ceremony of military police changing shifts stopped, Cheng said the issues would be decided after consulting public opinion.
The ministry seeks to transform the building into a facility promoting art and culture, she said.
Northern Taiwan Society chairman Chang Yeh-shen (張葉森) yesterday lauded the ministry’s proposal as “belated justice,” adding that without taking the step of tackling the issues concerning the memorial hall, any talk of implementing transitional justice is worthless.
Additional reporting by Su Fang-ho and Abraham Gerber
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS