The government moved another step toward changing the name of the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall back to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall yesterday, although it remains tight-lipped about the plan.
At the weekly Cabinet meeting, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) instructed the Executive Yuan to withdraw the requests to abolish the Organic Statute of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂組織條例) and the note on the existence of the Organic Statute of National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (國立台灣民主紀念館組織規程) from the legislature.
Last year the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government renamed the memorial as part of its efforts to remove symbols commemorating dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石). The DPP also replaced the four-character inscription on the hall’s entry arch, dazhong zhizheng (大中至正), meaning Chiang’s “great neutrality and perfect uprightness,” to “Liberty Square” (自由廣場) and redecorated the hall.
The move was controversial because the changes were made without going through the legislature. The replacement of the inscription also saw scuffles erupt between pan-blue and pan-green supporters.
However, the DPP administration’s requests to amend the two statutes were put on the back burner by the legislature.
“Since the two statutes are still before the legislature and the legislature attached a resolution on the passed 2008 budget request that required funds earmarked for the hall be written under the name of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the government decided to withdraw the two statutes,” Executive Yuan spokeswoman Vanessa Shih (史亞平) said.
Shih denied the move was meant to restore the name of the memorial, saying that the Ministry of Education would not make a decision until it is able to reach a public consensus by holding citizen forums.
But Shih failed to explain why the government decided to retract the two statutes now if it it planned to keep the National Taiwan Democracy Hall name.
Asked to comment, Vice Minister of Education Lu Mu-lin (呂木琳) said “The name of the hall will be changed back to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall because [the name change] of the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall was never legitimized.”
“As for the rest of the issue, we will have to reach a public consensus through public forums,” he said.
Minister of Education Cheng Jei-cheng (鄭瑞城) said later that the ministry would hold the first public forum next Friday to discuss how to deal with the inscriptions on the hall and the front gate.
A decision will be made within six months, he said.
He said he would also invite several academics to discuss the matter at next week’s forum.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern