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Taipei exerts claim on CKS hall

People First Party Legislator Chang Hsien-yao holds up a NT$1,000 banknote yesterday, saying if the Democratic Progressive Party thought it was clever enough, it could always try to remove the characters for ''The Republic of China'' from the country's banknotes. Chang made the comment at a press conference questioning the government's decision to tear down the wall around Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES

The Taipei City Government yesterday challenged the Cabinet's plan to demolish the white-washed walls surrounding the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall by claiming jurisdiction over the hall and its environs, warning the administration that any changes to the structure would be illegal without its approval.

If the government demolished the wall without applying for a deconstruction license, the city government would take legal action, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said.

"Keeping or removing the CKS Memorial Hall should not be a political issue. The memorial is a major local recreation area and an important tourist attraction. An overall view of the situation and public opinion should be considered before deciding on its fate," Hau said at Taipei City Hall.

A closed-door Cabinet meeting presided over by Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) on Friday ended with an agreement to rename the hall the "Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" and to demolish the wall around the park.

An education ministry statement further stated that the park surrounding the memorial would be renamed "Taiwan Democracy Park," with the Construction and Planning Agency forming a task force to discuss tearing down the wall and submit a report on the project within a month.

However, the Taipei City Government argued that the hall was a "regular" rather than a "special" structure and was under the jurisdiction of the city's Building Administration Office.

Any changes made without a municipal license approved by the city government would constitute a violation of construction and urban planning regulations, and the government could face a fine of NT$30,000 (US$911) to NT$300,000, Taipei City's Urban Planning Commission said, adding that related personnel could face six months in jail if they push through with the planned deconstruction.

The commission added that the government's plan to change the name of the surrounding park to "Taipei Democracy Park" would also need approval from the city government for land rezoning.

The land housing the hall and the surrounding park is classified as "land for CKS Memorial Hall's use." The government will have to apply to the commission and hold public hearings for zoning reclassification to "land for park's use" before changing the name, the commission said.

Arguing that the walls are an important part of the traditional architecture of the CKS Memorial Hall, Hau, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), called on the government to send its project report to the city government for an urban planning review and to follow all required procedures.

"The city government will exercise the law if the government ignored the regulations," he added.

Meanwhile, KMT Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), the grandson of the late dictator Chiang Kai-shek and son of the late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), said yesterday that the KMT may stage a rally to protest the Cabinet's decision.

"We do not rule out staging a demonstration," he said. "If several of our objections [to the decision] proved to be ineffective, we will resort to a demonstration."

KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) added that the government should also demolish the Presidential Office building if the Cabinet would like to get rid of symbols of authoritarianism, as the office was formerly the residence of governors general during the Japanese colonial era.

People First Party Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) told a press conference yesterday that the administration should not tear down the walls because the Ming Dynasty-style architecture of the CKS Memorial Hall is famous around the world.

"China Airlines (中華航空) even has a commercial showing the hall's winding corridors, and the commercial has gathered favorable reviews [among foreign guests]," Chang said.
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