While removing authoritarian symbols, the transitional justice promotion committee should aim to avoid exacerbating conflicts between opposing sides, committee chairman nominee Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) wrote in materials that were on Friday submitted to the legislature by the Executive Yuan for its review of the committee’s nominations.
Taiwanese hold divergent views on authoritarian symbols, Huang said, adding that if the committee could allow society to form a consensus on their removal, it would have succeeded.
When determining the truth and who holds responsibility, the committee should build trust, push for dialogue and allow people to decide which symbols are authoritarian and how to handle them, Huang said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
People often reduce the purpose of the committee to changing road names and the faces on currency, full-time committee member nominee and former Taiwan Association for Truth and Reconciliation chief executive Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) wrote.
The handling of authoritarian symbols should not be the committee’s primary task — it should first uncover historical truths, then gradually describe the different types of authoritarian symbols and facilitate collective reflection to build a foundation for their future handling, she wrote.
Meanwhile, full-time nominee and Academia Sinica ethnologist Peng Jen-yu (彭仁郁) wrote that the committee should work to better understand diverse and conflicting histories so that the symbols could be handled appropriately under a high level of public consensus.
However, full-time nominee and Taiwanese literature academic Yang Tsui (楊翠) said that bronze statues of former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) should be removed.
Roads and public buildings named after authoritarian rulers should be renamed to show that the people deny the legitimacy of authoritarian rule, part-time nominee and Judicial Reform Foundation member Greg Yo (尤伯祥) wrote.
Nearly all of the items that were left by the German National Socialist Workers’ Party (Nazi party) have been removed, committee vice chairman nominee and Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Tien-chin (張天欽) wrote.
Handling the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall would be the best way to begin promoting transitional justice, part-time nominee and Academia Sinica Institute of Taiwan History director Hsu Hsueh-chi (許雪姬) wrote, with part-time nominee and National Taiwan University history professor Hua Yih-fen (花亦芬) agreeing that its handling should be the committee’s primary task.
The statue inside the hall could be moved to Taoyuan’s Cihu Memorial Sculpture Garden for preservation, but the hall itself should remain to help Taiwanese understand how the authoritarian ruler was introduced and the effect authoritarianism had on Taiwan before transitional justice, she wrote, adding that it could be turned into an art library or human rights museum.
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
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS