As of this month, 54 organizations have completed plans to remove, or have already removed, icons of authoritarian rule from public spaces in compliance with the Transitional Justice Commission’s regulations.
The Central Police University and the Taiwan Police College have agreed to rename their Zhongzheng halls, while the college also plans to remove two statues of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
The Executive Yuan’s Central Taiwan Joint Services Center moved a statue of Chiang to Taoyuan’s Cihu Memorial Sculpture Park, while a statue at Taian Service Area in Taichung, the largest statue at a rest station on a national freeway, is to be removed next year, the source said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The statue of Chiang at Chiayi County’s Jhaoping Station has been removed, while three statues at the Ministry of Justice offices in New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Changhua County have been removed, the commission said.
The Zhongzheng Building under the Ministry of Civil Service’s Muzha Office in Taipei’s Wenshan District (文山) would be renamed and its plaque would be removed this summer, the commission added.
Fourteen statues of Chiang Kai-shek and two portraits of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) at companies affiliated with the Ministry of Economic Affairs have been removed, while a half-bust of Chiang Kai-shek has been repurposed as a windmill, the commission said.
A statue of Chiang Kai-shek at the Chiayi County Tourism Bureau has been blocked from sight with a display panel, while the statue of him at Taitung County Airport was removed last year, the commission said.
Five of his statues at Coast Guard Administration bases — three at Kaohsiung bases, and one each in Taoyuan and Taitung — were removed, while the name Zhongzheng was struck from platforms at the bases, the commission said.
The Fishery Agency has put into storage a Chiang Ching-kuo relief originally featured in its Keelung office, the commission said.
Three statues of Chiang Kai-shek at homes for elderly people under the Ministry of Health and Welfare were removed, the commission said.
The commission did not arbitrarily state how the statues should be handled, and most of the methods were proposed by the respective agencies, Commissioner Deputy Director Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) said.
Except for the Ministry of National Defense, the Veterans Affairs Council and the Ministry of Education, there are still 38 places where “icons of authoritarian rule” remain unprocessed, Yeh said.
The commission would continue to work with governmental agencies and convey to them what transitional justice symbolizes and how they could implement it, Yeh said.
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
RSS