Following the government's recent efforts to remove statues of late dictator Chiang Kai-shek (
Anyone visiting the grand hall on the second floor of the Presidential Office building will notice that the bronze statue of Sun that used to grace a pedestal at the top of the stairs has been replaced with a potted Taiwan cypress tree.
Presidential Office spokesman David Lee (
PHOTO: CNA
The Presidential Office has also changed the name of a monthly meeting, previously dubbed the "Founding Father Memorial Monthly Meeting," to "Presidential Monthly Meeting."
Lee said the public should not read too much into the changes. He added that a painting of Sun still hangs in the auditorium where monthly meetings take place and that participants would continue to bow to it.
Last March, the Presidential Office changed a sign that hung above its entrance hall from "Chieh-shou Hall" to "Presidential Office."
The sign, which had been in place since 1948, was criticized as a relic of authoritarianism.
"Chieh-shou Hall" can be translated as "Long live Chiang Kai-shek Hall."
The Japanese-built Presidential Office building was dubbed Chieh-shou Hall to celebrate the 60th birthday of Chiang, who was born on Oct. 31, 1887.
When approached for comment yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Shih-cheng (
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
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