Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians yesterday criticized the Ministry of Culture’s proposal to remove symbols related to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with Chiang’s great-grandson and KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) saying the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government should present a “full picture” of Chiang Kai-shek, rather than just focusing on his misdeeds.
The real aim of the proposal is not to dispose of totems relating to Chiang Kai-shek or Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), but to negate the Republic of China (ROC), KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said.
She called the removal “unwise,” saying it would polarize society and incite social division and hatred.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The DPP’s objective is ideological; it wants to “amplify the impact of historical tragedies at a particular time,” KMT Central Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) said, adding that the nation has “more important things to do,” such as lowering the unemployment rate, solving the problem of low pay and improving cross-strait relations.
Calling the memorial hall an “important cultural resource” and a “major tourist attraction,” KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said it is a favorite destination of many Chinese tourists and facilitates the promotion of Taiwan’s democracy, progress and economic development.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration’s “inappropriate” proposal was made out of “ideological reasons,” he added.
Hau continued his criticism on Facebook, saying that the Tsai administration’s taking aim at the memorial hall reminded him of the way former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), near the end of his term, tried to distract public attention from his poor performance by “messing around with” the hall.
Hau wrote that it was he, in his then-capacity as Taipei mayor, who had prevented the DPP’s “malicious ideological act.”
In 2007, Chen proposed changing the hall’s name to the “National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall,” but was stymied by the Taipei City Government, which regarded the architecture, the plaza, the archways and the walls as city-level “historical sites.”
Hau, who is running for KMT chairman, also talked of Chiang Kai-shek’s “contribution in leading the nationalist army to protect Taiwan.”
“Without the Aug. 23 Artillery Battle that successfully safeguarded Taiwan, whose flag would have been flying over Taiwan? Would it be the ROC flag or the five-star [People’s Republic of China] flag? Would Taiwan still have today’s democracy, freedom and openness? Maybe even the DPP would not have existed,” Hau wrote.
On Aug. 23, 1958, the People’s Republic of China launched an intense artillery bombardment on Kinmen as China attempted to seize Matsu and Kinmen from the ROC.
While it is expected that the government would take certain actions to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the 228 Incident this year, Taiwan should be able to rationally present a full picture consisting of both Chiang Kai-shek’s achievements and misdeeds, Chiang Wan-an said.
Perhaps only his achievements were saluted during the authoritarian era, but the present government would be repeating the mistakes of that era if it mentioned only Chiang Kai-shek’s errors, and did not recount history in an objective and ideology-free way, he said.
The lawmaker said that he agrees with the proposal to use historical materials that show Chiang Kai-shek’s achievements and his misdeeds, adding that Taiwanese should have the opportunity to make their own judgements about their shared memories.
Additional Reporting by CNA
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS