The proposal to change the name of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and the demolition of its outer walls have caused much controversy. The Taipei City Government has attempted to list the memorial hall, which was completed in 1980, as an official historical site. But it has forgotten to preserve the city's historic railways, which were completed more than a century ago in 1893.
As children, we learned from our textbooks such things as the shape of the Republic of China (ROC) is somewhat similar to that of a begonia leaf. Meanwhile, we ignored things that were not covered in the textbooks, such as the 228 Incident. Nor were we taught about the railway construction launched by Taiwan's first governor, Liu Ming-Chuan (劉銘傳), between Keelung and Hsinchu, which came into operation later in 1893. In the book, The 100th Anniversary of Taiwan Railway, there is even a photo of the Keelung Station built by Liu.
But growing up, we realize that the shape of the ROC was more like an old hen, and we began to learn about the massacre that began on Feb. 28, 1947. Moreover, those who study railway history learn that due to the poor quality of Liu's railways, the whole system was abandoned long ago, with only a few historical relics remaining.
In late 2004, during a historical site review, it was determined that the roof of the Taiwan Railway Administration's (TRA) old auditorium might possibly be the frame of the Taipei Station built by Liu. Since relics of the old line are extremely rare, the finding was surely precious. However, faced with pressure to build a new MRT station at the site, it was decided that the auditorium had to be removed during construction of the underground station, then returned to its original location later.
The location of a historical site is of great significance, and they should not be moved arbitrarily. The auditorium built during the Qing dynasty, had withstood Japanese colonization and the post World War II era, as it morphed from a station into a railway workshop and finally an auditorium. It witnessed the rise and fall of the three regimes, and symbolizes the beginnings of Taiwan's industrialization. However, due to the perfunctory decision made by Taipei's Department of Cultural Affairs, it was moved.
Soon after the relocation work started, workers discovered a railway base of the original line about 60cm below the floor. The reappearance of the base was as stunning as that of the "terracotta army" excavated in China, and the scene was magnificent. The problem was, it would be even more difficult to relocate the base. Finally, the department fell in line with the government's call for "desinicization" by removing the Chinese site and demolishing the entire base.
Ever since the historical site was revealed, the department has taken a passive attitude toward it. Despite the cultural value of the site, which contains important historical remains from the Qing dynasty, it has received little attention.
In comparison to the outer walls of the memorial hall, such cherry picking of historical sites is reason for disappointment and resentment.
Ku Ting-wei is a student in the Graduate Institute of Microbiology and Biochemistry at National Taiwan University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
A failure by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to respond to Israel’s brilliant 12-day (June 12-23) bombing and special operations war against Iran, topped by US President Donald Trump’s ordering the June 21 bombing of Iranian deep underground nuclear weapons fuel processing sites, has been noted by some as demonstrating a profound lack of resolve, even “impotence,” by China. However, this would be a dangerous underestimation of CCP ambitions and its broader and more profound military response to the Trump Administration — a challenge that includes an acceleration of its strategies to assist nuclear proxy states, and developing a wide array
Eating at a breakfast shop the other day, I turned to an old man sitting at the table next to mine. “Hey, did you hear that the Legislative Yuan passed a bill to give everyone NT$10,000 [US$340]?” I said, pointing to a newspaper headline. The old man cursed, then said: “Yeah, the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] canceled the NT$100 billion subsidy for Taiwan Power Co and announced they would give everyone NT$10,000 instead. “Nice. Now they are saying that if electricity prices go up, we can just use that cash to pay for it,” he said. “I have no time for drivel like
Twenty-four Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers are facing recall votes on Saturday, prompting nearly all KMT officials and lawmakers to rally their supporters over the past weekend, urging them to vote “no” in a bid to retain their seats and preserve the KMT’s majority in the Legislative Yuan. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which had largely kept its distance from the civic recall campaigns, earlier this month instructed its officials and staff to support the recall groups in a final push to protect the nation. The justification for the recalls has increasingly been framed as a “resistance” movement against China and
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) reportedly told the EU’s top diplomat that China does not want Russia to lose in Ukraine, because the US could shift its focus to countering Beijing. Wang made the comment while meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on July 2 at the 13th China-EU High-Level Strategic Dialogue in Brussels, the South China Morning Post and CNN reported. Although contrary to China’s claim of neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, such a frank remark suggests Beijing might prefer a protracted war to keep the US from focusing on