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Honor guards back on duty at Chiang dual mausoleums

Military honor guards resumed their duties and performances at the mausoleums of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) in Taoyuan County on Sunday.

“After requests were made by lawmakers and the Taoyuan County Government to the Ministry of National Defense, we were recommissioned for this assignment on June 16 and officially resumed our performances on June 22,” a press release from the Joint Forces Honor Guard (JFHG) read.

The JFHG said there are 32 members in the new joint honor guards, made up of service personnel from the Air Force, Army and Navy.

In the past, the three forces would take turns, rotating every three months, to guard and perform at the two mausoleums and the performances could be seen between 9am and 4pm each day.

But starting yesterday, the new honor guard squad at the two mausoleums would be composed of guards from three different forces and would perform every hour but only at weekends and on national holidays and always at the same time — between 9am to 4pm.

After the ministry closed the two mausoleums in January, it also terminated the military guard services and performances at the mausoleums.

Taoyuan County Government complained that it had lost at least NT$300 million (US$10 million) in potential tourism revenues since the two mausoleums were closed after the honor guards were withdrawn.
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