Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians yesterday criticized the Ministry of Culture’s proposal to remove symbols related to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with Chiang’s great-grandson and KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) saying the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government should present a “full picture” of Chiang Kai-shek, rather than just focusing on his misdeeds.
The real aim of the proposal is not to dispose of totems relating to Chiang Kai-shek or Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), but to negate the Republic of China (ROC), KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said.
She called the removal “unwise,” saying it would polarize society and incite social division and hatred.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The DPP’s objective is ideological; it wants to “amplify the impact of historical tragedies at a particular time,” KMT Central Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) said, adding that the nation has “more important things to do,” such as lowering the unemployment rate, solving the problem of low pay and improving cross-strait relations.
Calling the memorial hall an “important cultural resource” and a “major tourist attraction,” KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said it is a favorite destination of many Chinese tourists and facilitates the promotion of Taiwan’s democracy, progress and economic development.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration’s “inappropriate” proposal was made out of “ideological reasons,” he added.
Hau continued his criticism on Facebook, saying that the Tsai administration’s taking aim at the memorial hall reminded him of the way former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), near the end of his term, tried to distract public attention from his poor performance by “messing around with” the hall.
Hau wrote that it was he, in his then-capacity as Taipei mayor, who had prevented the DPP’s “malicious ideological act.”
In 2007, Chen proposed changing the hall’s name to the “National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall,” but was stymied by the Taipei City Government, which regarded the architecture, the plaza, the archways and the walls as city-level “historical sites.”
Hau, who is running for KMT chairman, also talked of Chiang Kai-shek’s “contribution in leading the nationalist army to protect Taiwan.”
“Without the Aug. 23 Artillery Battle that successfully safeguarded Taiwan, whose flag would have been flying over Taiwan? Would it be the ROC flag or the five-star [People’s Republic of China] flag? Would Taiwan still have today’s democracy, freedom and openness? Maybe even the DPP would not have existed,” Hau wrote.
On Aug. 23, 1958, the People’s Republic of China launched an intense artillery bombardment on Kinmen as China attempted to seize Matsu and Kinmen from the ROC.
While it is expected that the government would take certain actions to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the 228 Incident this year, Taiwan should be able to rationally present a full picture consisting of both Chiang Kai-shek’s achievements and misdeeds, Chiang Wan-an said.
Perhaps only his achievements were saluted during the authoritarian era, but the present government would be repeating the mistakes of that era if it mentioned only Chiang Kai-shek’s errors, and did not recount history in an objective and ideology-free way, he said.
The lawmaker said that he agrees with the proposal to use historical materials that show Chiang Kai-shek’s achievements and his misdeeds, adding that Taiwanese should have the opportunity to make their own judgements about their shared memories.
Additional Reporting by CNA
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
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 —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS