The Tainan City Government is considering the establishment of a task force to remove statues that depict Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from local school campuses, Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday at a commemorative event for the families and victims of the 228 Incident.
The 228 Incident refers to an uprising that began on Feb. 27, 1947, against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime and the resulting crackdown that left tens of thousands dead and led to nearly four decades of martial law.
The decision was made to give schools a clean learning environment and symbolize Taiwan’s freedom from the autocratic rule of the past, Lai said.
Photo: Screengrab from Facebook
Many of Chiang’s statues or busts at campuses across the nation are vandalized every year with paint or banners with the word “murderer” on them on the eve of the 228 Incident anniversary, Lai said.
Lai said the protest actions are an effort to remind Taiwanese of Chiang’s autocratic rule and to introduce transitional justice.
Over the past six years, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been reluctant to come to terms with “historical truths,” nor have history textbooks been modified to convey such truths, Lai said.
Photo: Screengrab from Facebook
There are 14 Chiang statues across Tainan, Lai said, adding that Tainan City Hall plans to hold discussions with the Taoyuan City Government on the possibility of Taoyuan housing the statues.
No statues of Chiang remain in areas that comprised the former Tainan County because they were moved to Taoyuan prior to the merging of the county and city into a special municipality, Lai said.
Lai and the Tainan City Government stressed that the move is not meant to incite conflict and seeks to avoid defilement of the statues.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia