The Transitional Justice Commission yesterday announced its plan for transforming Taipei’s Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, which would prioritize removing the main hall’s large bronze statue of the former leader.
In today’s democratized society, all authoritarian character should be eradicated from the complex, which is itself a product of Taiwan’s authoritarian past, the commission said.
The most important task would be removing the hall’s “axis of worship,” or the 6.3m-tall bronze of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) in its main chamber, it said.
Photo: CNA
Removing the statue — Taiwan’s largest remaining symbol of its authoritarian past — would indicate the “establishment of a liberal democratic constitutional order, denial of the legitimacy of authoritarian rule and remembrance of the historical lessons of human rights violations,” the commission said.
In its place, the proposal seeks to create a park for “reflection on Taiwan’s authoritarian history” by changing its function and appearance.
After the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) retreat to Taiwan, it invested significant resources into building the huge “memorial park” in the center of the nation’s capital.
Although ostensibly created to commemorate Chiang, the design and layout of the compound encourages visitors to worship rather than simply memorialize, the commission said.
For example, its flat, directional plaza leading up to the main hall with boundary walls surrounding the compound create lines of sight and pathways that suggest reverence of the central “temple,” it said.
The so-called “park” also has a huge amount of paved space which, despite being used by the public, retains its authoritarian character, since its spatial design and symbols have remained largely unchanged, it added.
The axis of worship should therefore be removed to reverse the spatial structure of the park, in addition to all of its accompanying authoritarian symbols, it said.
Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈), the commission’s acting minister, confirmed that the statue can legally be removed after consultation with the Ministry of Culture’s Bureau of Cultural Heritage.
While the hall is protected as a historical structure, the statue was not included in the registry, Yeh said, adding that any removal plan would require a review involving authorities in charge of heritage preservation.
As for what to do with the statue, Yeh said that a decision would be made after consulting with civil groups and victims of political persecution, although the common consensus is that retaining such a symbol in the center of the nation’s capital is problematic.
On the other hand, the reclaimed space offers endless possibilities, she said.
Some have proposed changing the main hall into an arts space, a memorial for past presidents or even a new location for the Legislative Yuan, she said, adding that the public could continue proposing ideas, although the two side halls would remain performance spaces.
Asked whether the Republic of China Honor Guard would be asked to leave the compound, Yeh said that a decision would need to be made by the Ministry of Culture, as it has jurisdiction over the hall.
Yeh also vowed to speed up the process, with plans to submit a full proposal to the Cabinet by next year.
Speaking to a party event, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday that the person who should “reflect on authoritarianism” is the nation’s leader, referring to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party.
“She is not only an authoritarian leader over a one-party state, but also an admitted publicly elected dictator,” he said. “Does she not need to reflect on herself? Stepping down is better than tearing down statues.”
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS