To try to diminish the political representation of the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, a KMT lawmaker plans to propose an amendment next week that would rename the building "President Memorial Hall," where all ROC presidents would be remembered after they pass away.
Lawmaker Huang Ter-fu (黃德福) said the idea was inspired by a recent proposal to build another memorial for the late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) raised by KMT lawmaker John Chang (章孝嚴), Chiang Ching-kuo's illegitimate son.
Huang said he does not think Chang's proposal is feasible in light of the difficulty in acquiring a site for the building.
The problem would only be exacerbated if every president is to have a memorial, Huang said.
While gathering the presidents' artifacts at one place will facilitate the comprehensive preservation of the collections, renaming the hall would also depoliticize it, Huang said.
He also said that there is no guarantee that the TSU, which has recently played up a string of controversial issues in order to capture media attention, will not one day use the issue to attack the KMT.
Under these circumstances, it would be better for the KMT to take a preemptive move, Huang proposed.
KMT legislative caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (
Lin said every lawmaker enjoys the right to raise a legislative proposal, but it is not commendable if the purpose for doing so is to put on a political show.
Unlike Lin, who took a cautious attitude toward the issue, many lawmakers expressed approval for Huang's proposal.
KMT lawmaker Shyh Jong-shyong (徐中雄) said that Taiwan should stop glorifying its dictatorial past and that the hall should pay homage to the nation's legacy of democracy.
DPP lawmaker Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) said the site of the memorial hall would be an ideal one for relocating the Legislative Yuan because it is close to the Executive Yuan and has a spacious square where people can stage demonstrations.
However, Lin said Huang's idea is also acceptable.
TSU lawmaker Chen Chien-ming (
Chen further suggested removing the bodies of the two late presidents from their mausoleums in Tzuhu and Touliao and having them buried so that the sites could be opened to the public for other purposes.
John Chang, however, is against the proposal, arguing the nation's two late presidents enjoy a different historical status from other presidents.
Though it would be convenient to exhibit all the presidents' artifacts at what is now the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, doing so would not serve to remember a head of state who had contributed a great deal to the country, Chang said.
Echoing Chang's opinion, PFP lawmaker Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) said other countries usually do not remember all of their presidents, but rather only build memorials for those who make outstanding contributions to their nations.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS