President-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) bowed in front of dictator Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) mausoleum yesterday to commemorate the anniversary of his death, a departure from the outgoing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s efforts to distance itself from the late leader.
Ma said Chiang’s faults and achievements should be decided by historians, but that there was no denying he was part of the nation’s past.
Ma, who will be sworn in as president on May 20, told a small group of visitors to the tomb yesterday that Chiang’s legacy was an “important historical and tourism resource for Taiwan.”
PHOTO: CNA
The mausoleum was shut in December after the DPP said that the country should stop honoring a dictator. It also ordered Chiang’s name removed from the main international airport and tore down statues of him on military bases.
ANNUAL GESTURE
Ma said on Friday that he would continue to honor Chiang in such a manner each year after he takes office on May 20.
Chiang’s remains were entombed in Tzuhu (慈湖), Taoyuan County, after his death on April 5, 1975. The body of his elder son, Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), who was president between 1978 and 1988, was laid to rest in Touliao (頭寮), also in Taoyuan, after he passed away on Jan.13, 1988.
Acknowledging that judgment on what the Chiangs had done for the country was open to discussion, Ma, who had served as English secretary for Chiang Ching-kuo, said that the purpose of his visit to the mausoleums was to “commemorate the deaths of the former KMT leaders” and that his act should not be interpreted as an act of “worship.”
Ma said he was not very concerned about any controversy over his visit to the tombs, adding that “everyone can hold different views on history.”
OPINIONS
Commenting on the DPP’s renaming Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall as National Taiwan Democracy Hall on May 19, Ma said he was concerned about the “legitimacy” of the change.
“Your views may be different from mine, but you cannot coerce me into adhering to your opinions,” said Ma, adding that public should welcome difference of opinion.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to