The burial of late president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) is expected to take place in March or April next year as scheduled, even though construction of their burial plots has been delayed by bad weather, a Ministry of National Defense (MND) official said yesterday.
Although construction of the Chiangs' tombs, located at the Wutzushan (
The command confirmed a statement from the Bureau of Armaments and Acquisition -- the builder of the tombs -- that construction began in early March this year and will be ready as scheduled, without any compromises in the quality and design of the structure.
According to the command, the affairs regarding the relocation of the two Chiangs -- from their interim mausoleums in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan -- to the cemetery for permanent interment will be taken care of by the Ministry of the Interior, in line with the State Funeral Law.
As to the management of the tombs, this will be transferred from the MND to the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen under the Executive Yuan.
Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing China to the Mao Zedong (毛澤東)-led communist party in a bloody civil war. He died in 1975 and his remains were embalmed in a temporary mausoleum at Tzuhu (慈湖) in Taoyuan, awaiting proper burial in China.
Chiang Ching-kuo, who died in 1988 also lies embalmed in a seperate mausoleum, at Touliao (
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,