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Court rejects city's call to stop inscription change

"The hall's status as a temporary historic site will not be changed. We will notify the contractor about its legal responsibility if it begins [work on changing the inscription]."

Lee Yong-ping, commission of Taipei City's Cultural Affairs Department

The Taipei High Administrative Court yesterday rejected the city government's request to stop the Ministry of Education from changing the Chiang-era inscription on the front gate of the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall from dazhong zhizheng (大中至正) to "Liberty Square" (自由廣場)

The administrative court dismissed the city government's petition for a "provisional disposition," but said it could appeal the case to the Supreme Administrative Court.

The court ruled that a petition for provisional disposition applies only when there is an ongoing lawsuit against the subject of the provisional disposition. But as there was none against the ministry in this case, the request for a provisional disposition does not apply, it said.

On Nov. 23, the Council of Cultural Affairs (CCA) approved an application by the ministry to change the inscription.

The decision drew rapid fire from the Taipei City Government, which argued that the hall is a municipal historic site and anyone who changes or tampers with any artifacts within the signature blue-trimmed white walls will be in violation of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Law.

regret

The Taipei City Government yesterday expressed its regret over the ruling, but insisted that it continues to exercise jurisdiction over the hall, which was turned into a temporary municipal historic site in March by the city government to prevent anything related to the hall from being altered.

Lee Yong-ping (李永萍), commissioner of Taipei City's Cultural Affairs Department, said the department would file suit against any individual or entity that damages the site in accordance with the Cultural Heritage Preservation Law (文化資產保存法).

"The hall's status as a temporary historic site will not be changed. We will notify the contractor about its legal responsibility if it begins [work on changing the inscription]," Lee said at Taipei City Hall.

manipulation

Yeh Chin-yuan (葉慶元), the city's Law and Regulation Committee commissioner, urged the ministry to refrain from politically manipulating the issue and damaging the site.

Meanwhile, the ministry said last night that the inscription on the front arch of the hall would not be changed this weekend and that it would follow the CCA's timeline and complete the change by Dec. 8.

contractor

The ministry also said it had selected several companies to make the changes, but refused to reveal the names of the bid winners or the project's cost. It said, however, that the work would not start anytime before next Tuesday.

Ministry Secretary-General Chen Ming-yin (陳明印) said the ruling made it clear that the CCA is the only authorized government agency that has jurisdiction over the hall, adding that the city government was "ill advised" when it applied for a provisional disposition to halt efforts to change the inscription.

Additional reporting Mo Yan-chih
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