The statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) in the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei was vandalized by a group of activists from the “Taiwan Republic Campaign” yesterday in an apparent political protest timed to coincide with 228 Memorial Day.
The activists threw eggs and water balloons filled with black paint onto the statue, while shouting: “Chiang was a murderer” and “there is no forgiveness if there is no truth,” referring to the 228 Incident and the White Terror era.
Police said that two activists — Peter Wang (王獻極) and Chen Chun-han (陳峻涵) — were taken in for questioning and might be charged with violating the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
In a press conference held earlier in the day, Chen said that the campaigners would remind Taiwan of its history and facilitate transitional justice through their annual activities commemorating the 228 Incident.
The 228 Incident, which began on Feb. 27, 1947, refers to an uprising against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration, which led to the killings of tens of thousands of Taiwanese and nearly four decades of martial law.
Chiang statues and symbols on college campuses nationwide were vandalized in a similar manner on Thursday, including those in National Chiao Tung University, National Yang Ming University, Soochow University and Fu Jen Catholic University.
Statues were covered with red paint or draped in folds of cloth, on which words like “murderer” or “repent for the dead” were graffitied — apparently referring to Chiang’s involvement in the 228 Incident and the ensuing White Terror era.
Chen Yu-hsiang (陳佑詳), a senior at National Yang Ming University, said in a statement that “the public cannot do justice to the victims of the [White Terror] era if we observe 228 Memorial Day while turning a blind eye to totalitarian symbols that are ubiquitous on campuses.”
“Regardless of Chiang’s accomplishments and faults, what is more terrifying than the ubiquity of Chiang statues is the sacred and inviolable image of Chiang Gong (蔣公) [meaning revered generalissimo Chiang] and a slave mentality that many people still hold on to,” he said.
A student campaigner surnamed Chen (陳) at Soochow University said that petitions to remove a Chiang statue from the university library had been submitted several times to authorities, only to meet with perfunctory responses, so the campaigners decided to escalate their campaign by doing something “radical.”
Students have taken the campaign onto the Internet by setting up a Facebook page that encourages vandalism of Chiang statues, calling the vandalism “installation art.”
Most college authorities said that they would not take any disciplinary actions against students who are allegedly involved in the vandalism, but called for the campaigners to express their opinions through proper channels.
Additional reporting by We Po-hsuan and Lee Ya-wen
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS