The Council of Cultural Affairs yesterday officially designated National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall and its surrounding park a historic site, saying the plaza, the exhibit hall and the main building were all protected under the new provision.
Council Chairwoman Weng Chin-chu (
"Since the lifting of martial law 20 years ago, many human rights demonstrations have taken place here. The ground has become a symbol of the nation's democratic movement," she said.
The hall, formerly known as Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial, has been a source of contention between the central government and the Taipei City Government since May, when the Democratic Progressive Party proposed to rename the building, which had been naming after the dictator.
The Taipei City Government argued it had jurisdiction over the hall, adding that the Executive Yuan did not have the right to unilaterally change the name without receiving permission from the city government.
In an bid to block the name change, the city government petitioned to turn CKS Memorial Hall into a national historic site, which would have prevented anything related to the hall from being altered, including its name.
At the moment, the main building bears both names, as the legislature has been unable to reach a consensus on ratifying the new name.
A Ministry of Education official said yesterday that although the name issue remains unresolved, it does not affect the decision of turning the park and its building into a historical site.
The National Concert Hall, the National Theater and the ground's signature blue-trimmed white walls were not included in the provision.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
RSS