How history should treat Chiang Kai-shek (
To this day, there are still members of the Chiang family on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee, which shows the close relationship between the family and the party. The KMT, indeed, continues to deify Chiang and portray him as a national hero.
The military oath of loyalty used to be leader, ideology and country, in that order. Major roads all over the country are named after Chiang, and his statue still presides over traffic intersections and educational institutions.
With the dissolution of KMT authoritarian rule, the release of historical documents and the spread of democratic thinking, Chiang's actions are no longer infallible. Chiang disallowed dissent, permitted corruption and abuse of power among his subordinates, and committed criminal acts.
Chiang sent troops to suppress the 228 Incident, lost the civil war in China and fled to Taiwan, where he oversaw the large-scale oppression that was the White Terror, leading to the loss of thousands of lives and political freedom.
The destruction of Chiang's godlike status and the redefinition of his place in history are necessary parts of Taiwan's democratic transition, much like Spain's ongoing reevaluation of late dictator Francisco Franco.
Election concerns were of course one component in the government's decision to change the name Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall and replace the inscription on its main arch, but these actions are also a part of the reevaluation of Chiang's contributions and faults.
These actions are an essential step in the process of lessening psychological trauma in this society.
The next issue to address should be the mausoleums of Chiang and former president Chiang Ching-kuo (
The government should discontinue the honor guard and the two Chiangs should be interred somewhere else. If the Taoyuan County Government really believes the site can bring in 1.7 million visitors annually and create between NT$500 million and NT$800 million in revenue, they are welcome to build a "Chiang Culture Park" to increase local tourism.
A free society does not need heroes capable of other-worldly achievements or warriors of divine perfection. It also doesn't need generous memorial halls based on nostalgia for demagogues nor vast mausoleums for criminals.
Cultural museums or libraries are more appropriate venues for learning about the Chiang family.
A mature society relegates dead dictators to the debates of historians, and does not keep them in shrines for political opportunists.
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