The transitional justice implications of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂) is a perennial issue in Taiwan.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and the Ministry of Culture recently stated that the ceremonial duties performed by honor guards are to be relocated from inside the hall to Liberty Square in a similar format as is done at the National Martyrs’ Shrine (忠烈祠).
The fact that the sole statue in the hall is a huge bronze sculpture in the likeness of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) makes it difficult not to directly associate Chiang with the honor guards and their sentry duty while the ceremony continues to take place inside the hall, which will remain an issue of transitional justice.
However, the crux of this issue is that honor guards do not need to stand on duty in deference to Chiang. Instead of only featuring Chiang, another possibility is to install statues of the late presidents whose leadership marked the nation’s transition from dictatorship to democracy.
These would include statues (of the same size as Chiang’s) of Republic of China (ROC) founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), former presidents Yen Chia-kan (嚴家淦), Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), and subsequent and future heads of state, presuming of course that they do not object to having their statue in the hall.
The enormous statue of Chiang could be moved to the Chiang Kai-shek Cihu Statue Park (慈湖蔣公銅像公園) in Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪), where other statues of the former dictator have been relocated.
Moreover, the name of the hall could be changed from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to Democracy Memorial Hall, and honor guards can remain stationed in the hall, working in shifts, standing guard in dedication to the statues of the late leaders, rather than Chiang alone. This can truly embody transitional justice.
Keeping the ceremonial duties inside the hall would save the guards and visitors from having to be exposed to the elements, whatever the weather.
At present, during the ceremony, the incoming honor guard emerges majestically, boots stomping and clicking together, guns spinning and clacking on the floor.
The ceremony showcases the nation’s military discipline. If the ceremony is relocated outside, the sounds would be dissipated and the sight of the honor guards would get swamped by the spacious Liberty Square, to the detriment of their imposing manner.
Would the ceremony need to be canceled because of the rain, or indeed the searing sun or strong winds? Certainly, the duty would be made more demanding, as a result of those unpleasant and unpredictable conditions.
The guard ceremony has made the memorial hall a popular tourist attraction in Taipei, and international visitors who have watched the performance come away with a good impression of the standards of military training. If the ceremony is moved from inside the hall to Liberty Square, making it look very similar to the ceremony at the National Martyrs’ Shrine, visitors would be less likely to want to go and watch both.
The exact date of the relocation has yet to be decided, so the authorities have the option of launching a trial run to see how people respond.
Su Ming-tong is a retired civil servant.
Translated by Chen Chi-huang
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