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Chiang residence damaged in blaze

An investigator attempts to discover the cause of the fire that partially destroyed Grass Mountain Chateau on Yangmingshan, Taipei, yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

Grass Mountain Chateau, the first official residence of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) in Taiwan, was damaged by a fire early yesterday morning, prompting suspicions among pan-blue camp members that the blaze may be related to the Democratic Progressive Party's recent anti-Chiang campaign.

The main exhibition hall spanning about 660m2 and all the exhibits inside were destroyed in the fire. The building's wooden structure, combined with water shortages, heavy fog and its remote location in Yangmingshan(陽明山), made it difficult to save the villa, said the Taipei City Fire Department.

Fire Department Commissioner Hsiung Kuang-hua (熊光華) said preliminary investigations showed that the restaurant was most seriously damaged, while the cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

"We will continue the investigation in cooperation with Beitou police and Yangmingshan National Park," Hsiung said.

The chateau, located in Yangmingshan National Park, was built in 1920 as a vacation home for Japan's Prince Hirohito and later became a summer retreat and the first of 27 residences for Chiang Kai-shek after he retreated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to Taiwan in 1949.

The Taipei City Government took over administration of the chateau after Chiang died in 1975, registering the building as a monument because of its historical significance in 2002, and turned it into an arts salon and a museum for valuable items belonging to Chiang and his wife Madame Chiang (蔣宋美齡).

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday expressed regret over the fire, but declined to connect the fire with the DPP's recent efforts to remove reminders of Chiang Kai-shek's legacy.

"The cause of the fire is still under investigation. We don't want to make any assumptions, but at the same time we won't exclude any possibility," Hau said yesterday while inspecting the chateau.

Hau ordered police to beef up patrols of all public monuments related to Chiang, while urging politicians not to use monuments as political tools.

`Sensitive time'

"The fire has come at a sensitive time. Historical figures can be criticized, but monuments should not be used as tools for political purposes," he said. "Both pan-blue and pan-green politicians should put their efforts into preserving monuments."

Lee Yung-ping (李永萍), commissioner of Taipei City's Department of Cultural Affairs, said that most of the exhibits were replicas, and added the department would begin a reconstruction project to restore the building.

KMT Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) -- grandson of Chiang Kai-shek -- said the incident should be taken seriously given the historical significance of the residence.

"Given the current atmosphere of the anti-Chiang campaign, one can't help but wonder whether there is a connection [between the fire and the campaign,]" he said.

"If it proves to be arson, then the incident should be regarded as an act of weakness on behalf of the arsonist and could be terrifying because it has contributed to social instability," he said. "As a member of the Chiang family and a legislator, I condemn [whoever was responsible for the incident]," he said.

KMT legislative caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) said the fact that the fire had occurred while the DPP was pushing its anti-Chiang campaign inevitably stirred up speculation that someone supporting the campaign could have torched the residence.

The DPP shrugged off the speculation, with DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun saying it was still too early to draw any conclusions about the cause of the fire as the police had not concluded their investigation.

He said he did not want to comment on the matter, but added that the whole incident had been over-complicated and politicized.

DPP Legislator Wang Shu-hui (王淑慧) suggested the blaze could have been a counter-measure taken by the KMT against the DPP.

Police, meanwhile, were investigating whether the fire was related to a separate incident of vandalism at another Chiang residence in Taoyuan County's Dasi Township (大溪), after red paint and the words "228 Incident culprit" were discovered on its walls on Saturday morning.
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