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.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about