A bronze bust of Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) that had been removed from the Presidential Office during the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration was restored to its original position yesterday on Sun’s 142nd birthday.
Officiating at a ceremony at the grand hall on the second floor of the Presidential Office building, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) told government officials in attendance that it was the right thing to do.
“This building is where the president of the Republic of China (ROC) works and it makes sense to have a bronze bust of the founding father of the ROC here,” Ma said.
PHOTO: CNA
“I hope the bust will remain here forever so local and foreign guests can pay their respects. It is important to all ROC citizens,” he said.
The bronze bust of Sun, which now reoccupies a pedestal at the top of the stairs, was removed in February last year and replaced with a potted Taiwanese cypress tree.
Ma, who had worked at the Presidential Office for seven years as English interpreter and assistant to former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), said yesterday that he had noticed the difference when he took the oath of office on May 20 and said it felt very strange.
He said he later found out that the bust was in storage in a warehouse in Sansia (三峽), Taipei County. He decided to move it back because he thought it was inappropriate to leave it in storage.
Ma said that since the building had been used as the office of the ROC president after the government relocated from China to Taiwan, the removal of the bust of Sun might have been the “biggest change” in the building’s history.
The president said he became even more determined to bring the bust back to the Presidential Office when he conducted a state visit to Central America and the Caribbean in August, where he noticed the nation’s diplomatic allies displaying busts of their founders in their presidential buildings.
Ma said the bust of Sun was made in 1957.
Sun established the Society for Regenerating China (興中會) in 1894 and overthrew the Qing Dynasty 18 years later. Sun was the first president of the ROC, although he stayed in office for only a short time, Ma said, adding that the restoration of the bust was a worthwhile endeavor.
As a historic figure revered on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Ma said, Sun deserved a place in the Presidential Office.
Yesterday also marked Chinese Cultural Revival Day.
Ma said some might consider the designation of the day a political move, as it had been observed since 1965 as part of the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement initiated by then-president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to counter China’s Cultural Revolution.
However, efforts to appreciate Chinese culture deserved recognition, Ma said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
RSS