Monument to be built to honor Chiang Wei-shui

A monument will be built at the Toucheng (頭城) exit of the Hsuehshan Tunnel in Ilan County in memory of Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水), one of Taiwan's democratic trailblazers.

The Hsuehshan Tunnel is the centerpiece of the 54.3km Chiang Wei-shui Freeway that links Taipei and Ilan counties.

The freeway was named after Chiang, who was born in Ilan in 1891.

A ground-breaking ceremony was held at the site on Thursday with Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) attending.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Tsai Duei (蔡堆) and Chiang's 94-year-old son, Chiang Sung-hui (蔣松輝), also attended the ceremony.

Chang said Chiang, a physician, was a forerunner of the Taiwanese nationalist movement under Japanese colonial rule.

He formed the first political party in Taiwan and helped the less privileged, and was imprisoned more than 10 times for defying the orders of the Japanese authorities, Chang said.

Chiang's founding of the Taiwan People's Party laid a solid foundation for Taiwan's democratic movements, Chang said.

He said the monument would also commemorate the 25 engineers and workers who died during the construction of the 12.9km Hsuehshan Tunnel, the longest highway tunnel in East Asia and the fifth-longest in the world.

The Chiang Wei-shui Freeway begins in Taipei's Nangang (南港) District and ends in Ilan's Suao Township (蘇澳).