Taipei County Government officials said yesterday that they would order the demolition of a controversial war memorial in the county that critics say eulogizes Japanese militarism.
Taipei County Deputy Commissioner Lee Hung-yuan (
Imperial army
PHOTO: HUANG LI-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES
At issue is a memorial at the Wulai Waterfall Park in Wulai Township (
The structure comprises a series of stone tablets with inscriptions in Japanese that mourn the deceased soldiers, commend their bravery and sacrifice for Japan, narrate the history of the establishment of the team and express loyalty to the emperor of Japan.
According to a local media report, many recent visitors to the park were confused by the sight of a large number of Japanese flags flying there and expressed their displeasure at the construction of the monument.
The monument has also raised serious concern from Aboriginal Legislator May Chin (
May Chin, an independent legislator, emphasized that the Aborigines in Taiwan have the right to interpret their history, including that of their ancestors who were forced to fight for their Japanese colonial rulers, and that they cannot accept the imperialistic and militaristic concepts that the monument demonstrates.
`Repugnant'
May Chin added that the inscriptions on the monument are a distortion of history that is repugnant to the people of Taiwan and has hurt the Aboriginal population.
The legislator said she will meet with Aboriginal representatives to discuss the possibility of setting up their own monument to commemorate their ancestors.
Last year, May Chin visited Japan to demand the removal of the tablets for Taiwan's Aboriginal soldiers from the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. She also demanded that the Japanese government apologize and pay compensation for the persecution of indigenous residents during its colonial rule in Taiwan.
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