Pro-independence groups yesterday called for the removal of the statue of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (
Removal of the statue would be the first step toward lifting the "spiritual martial law," the groups said at a demonstration in front of the memorial hall yesterday.
"Although martial law was lifted 20 years ago, it still exists in the minds of many Taiwanese," said Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), chairman of the Taiwan Association of University Professors.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Chiang's statues can still be found in many public places. We need to clean up all such public places before a complete removal of the spiritual martial law is possible," he said.
The memorial hall, formerly known as Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, was completed in 1980 under the then Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime.
Although the memorial hall was renamed earlier this year, a giant bronze statue of Chiang still remains in the main lobby.
An official from the memorial hall's management office received the demonstrators and accepted a copy of the petition from the groups.
Tsay gave an example of how the "marital law mentality" still existed in Taiwan.
He said that many people they approached were reluctant to sign petitions, "because they fear something, even though nothing would happen to them. That's what I call a martial law mentality.'"
Two young demonstrators at the scene may have exhibited such "martial law mentality," Tsay said, as even though they both agreed to talk to the Taipei Times, they would not give their full names.
The two women, surnamed Lin and Huang, said they both supported the groups' demands and hoped the statue would be "torn down as soon as possible."
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
RSS