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MND withdrawing guards from Chiang mausoleums

The military said yesterday it would remove all remaining military guards of honor and military police from the mausoleums of former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and close the sites to visitors on Jan. 1.

The Ministry of National Defense said 80 honor guards and military police are currently stationed at Chiang Kai-shek's mausoleum, with another 35 at Chiang Ching-kuo's.

Ministry officials said they would also close the two mausoleums amid concerns they might be vandalized after military personnel are withdrawn from the sites.

The ministry confirmed that officials had begun talks with the Taoyuan County Government about taking over the running of the two sites as they are popular tourist attractions. The county government has yet to decide when it will take over, and the ministry will continue maintenance work at the two sites until the change of jurisdiction.

During the interval, Taoyuan Police Department said it might take over the military police's duties at the mausoleums.

"We are ready. But we are waiting for the order from the county government," said Lin Teh-hua (林德華), commissioner for the police department.

Meanwhile, the government will change the way it refers to the two sites from "mausoleum" to "grave" or "cemetery," Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) said yesterday.

"Mausoleum will not be used in official documents when referring to the place as part of the government's efforts to advance transitional justice," Shieh said.

He said the government had done all it could for the late presidents and called on the public not to politicize the changes, which he said were "necessary processes for the country to achieve normalization."

The Presidential Office has urged the Chiang family to relocate the remains to a tomb at the Wuchihshan Military Cemetery (五指山軍人公墓) in Taipei County by the end of this month.

The Chiang family made a request to the military in 2004 that the remains be transferred to Wuchihshan, where Chiang Kai-shek's other son, Weigo Chiang (蔣緯國), is buried.
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