The Transitional Justice Commission is considering donating statues of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to willing communities, repurposing them as art or replacing them with statues of locally born people, commission Acting Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠) said on Wednesday.
There is more than one way to deal with authoritarian symbols such as statues of Chiang Kai-shek and former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), she said.
That could mean removing them, replacing them with statues of local historical or literary figures, converting them into installation art or giving them to former military dependents’ villages that might be interested in “adopting” them, she said.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
While removing the statues would be an option, it would not be the only one, she said.
The commission would consult experts and other government agencies before deciding what to do with the statues, she added.
While speaking to reporters in Taipei, Yang also called for more social dialogue on the issue.
The commission is planning to host a series of forums nationwide after the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections, she said.
It would invite local residents to discuss the relationship between authoritarian symbols, the private sphere and everyday life, and ask local historians to explore the relationship between authoritarian symbols and historical memory, she said.
Through these discussions, the commission would gather ideas for dealing with the authoritarian symbols, she added.
There are more than 1,000 statues of Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan, the commission said in its latest update.
However, this is not a final number, as the Hualien County Government and the Keelung City Government have yet to report the number of Chiang Kai-shek statues in their jurisdictions, Yang said, adding that they are expected to do so after the elections.
In related news, a representative from the Executive Yuan appeared in court on Wednesday after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus applied for a provisional injunction to terminate the appointment of Yang as acting commission chair due to concerns over the legality of the move.
The KMT caucus said the regulations on the formation of the commission do not specify how an acting chairperson or deputy chairperson should be appointed.
The representative said Yang’s appointment by Premier William Lai (賴清德) last month was an internal personnel matter that the judiciary should not interfere with.
If the commission had no acting chairperson, it would be unable to carry on its daily activities, they said.
The presiding judge asked the representative which law requires a chairperson to be present when the commission meets, asking: “Is there no one else who can chair the meeting apart from the commission chairperson?”
As the representative did not give an answer, the court asked for a response within three days.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS