National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (
After being sealed off to the public since Thursday, the Democracy Hall made its official debut at 10am yesterday, with its newly decorated arch and brand-new name plaque.
Ministry of Education Secretary-General Chuang Kuo-jung (莊國榮), who oversaw the project, said the renaming of an area that was originally designed to worship dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was long overdue.
PHOTO: CNA
"Foreign tourists can now truly experience Taiwan's transitional justice," he said.
The renaming project was part of the administration's push to purge the nation of all remnants of Chiang. In March, Kaohsiung City Mayor Chen Chu (
Chuang said no decision had been made yet on the 6.3m statue of Chiang inside the hall or the signature blue-trimmed white wall surrounding the 240,000m2 park. However, there has been talk of relocating the statue and demolishing the wall.
One elderly woman, who identified herself as Wang, bemoaned the government's hasty decision to rename the site, but said it would not deter her from doing her daily exercises at the plaza.
One supporter said that renaming the plaza "Liberty Square" was most fitting because it symbolized that the nation had been "completely liberated from the grasp of the evil Chiang regime."
Several Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers went to the ministry yesterday morning to commend Chuang for his leadership in overseeing the project.
Chuang has become a household name because of his snappy comebacks and caustic remarks about the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and its top leaders, including calling presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) "sissies," "gay-like" and "wimps."
Chuang also ignored Taipei City's Department of Labor's lawsuit against him and the ministry for allegedly vandalizing a historic site, saying he had nothing to fear because he did not break the law by following an order from the Council of Cultural Affairs.
Earlier yesterday, Su Ying-kuei (
Su said the city government had sent an official document on Thursday urging the ministry to "improve the scaffolding" covering the hall and to halt further work.
However, the ministry resumed work on the hall without obtaining the city government's go-ahead, Su told reporters.
Su said the city government had filed lawsuits against Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝), Chuang and other personnel involved in removing the inscription from the gateway on charges of interference with official business and violation of the Criminal Code.
"The Taipei City Government will never allow anyone to override the law. We will punish anyone who disregards the law," Su said.
"We hope everyone can understand that no one can override the law, not even the president," he said.
While Su was speaking, some visitors to the hall applauded him while those others urged him to stop talking.
In related developments, KMT Spokeswoman Chen Shu-jung (
"If we really have to play mean tricks, I can just go on and say Chuang is not `man' enough, but this is meaningless," she said.
"I I believe we need to stop the wrangling and get down to business," she said.
In other news, Wang Jui-chang (王瑞璋), the ETTV cameraman who was badly injured last Thursday when a truck plowed into a group of journalists covering a protest at the memorial, underwent multiple surgeries yesterday at National Taiwan University Hospital.
Hospital spokesman Lin Chih-chang (林繼昌) said the surgery went smoothly and Wang would be in intensive care overnight.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS