Taipei City `law' defends CKS plaque

As the council has already made the hall a national historical site, the Taipei City Government would have no say over the matter.

"We call on the Taipei City Government to follow the example of post-war Germany by removing all remnants of a past dictator. The city government must not prevent Taiwan from becoming a full democracy," Chuang said.

Officially opened in 1980, the hall was built in honor of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who ruled Taiwan for 30 years until his death in 1975.

In May, as part of the Democratic Progressive Party government's effort to cleanse the nation of remnants of the authoritarian regime, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) proposed deleting Chiang's name and renaming the hall National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall.

The announcement drew fire from the Taipei City Government, which argued that the hall fell under its jurisdiction and that the central government was prohibited from altering any parts of the hall, including its name.

"We call on the city government to behave rationally and refrain from inciting violence over the matter," Chuang said.

Last night, a bus load of police officers was deployed to the hall to prevent possible altercations.

The Third Society Party staged a protest at the hall yesterday, urging the government to suspend its decision to take down the plague of the hall and demanding that Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) step down if he does not meet their demand.

Lin Chih-jen (林致真), a legislator-at-large candidate who led about 10 supporters to stage the protest, asked the DPP and KMT to tackle the issue in a peaceful manner and postpone the move until after the presidential election so politics would not get in the way.

"We are worried that the two parties will use the matter to stir up passions and incite hatred. If that is the case, it will only do more harm than good to the country," he said.

Lin said they would stay at the hall until their demands were met, adding that they would adopt a peaceful and rational approach to stop the removal of the plaque.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan and Ko Shu-ling