The National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall was the subject of heated discussion again in the legislature yesterday as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) slammed a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator for suggesting its original name be restored.
KMT lawmaker Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) a loyalist of KMT president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), suggested the original four characters, dazhong zhizheng be restored to the main arch, replacing the name Liberty Square, which was installed in December.
Wu suggested the Liberty Square characters be placed on a side archway as a way to appease pan-green supporters and to highlight the KMT’s determination to transcend ethnic issues.
The DPP has argued that the square be used to commemorate Taiwan’s democratization rather than glorify a dictator.
The move to physically alter the hall’s exterior was vehemently opposed by the pan-blue camp and its supporters who lambasted the DPP for destroying a historical site for its own political interests.
The controversy died down ahead of the presidential election but has resurfaced as speculation has grown about how the incoming government intends to handle Chiang-related issues.
Ma said recently that the name of the hall would not be a priority for him and no changes will take place until all arguments have been carefully considered.
Wu’s suggestion drew fire from the DPP, who said the ideas were “preposterous” and “insulting.”
“How can he even suggest putting the word “liberty” in the same space where people go to worship a dictator that murdered so many people? There was no such thing as freedom under Chiang’s rule. It would be a total insult to Taiwan’s hard-won democracy,” DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said.
If the KMT went ahead and tore down the Liberty Square inscription without the consent of the people, she added, it would be acting in the same “brutal” and “barbaric” manner it accused the DPP of when the original inscription was dismantled in December.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
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