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Sun bust returned to Presidential Office

President Ma Ying-jeou lays flowers at the foot of a bronze of Sun Yat-sen at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday. The bust, which had been removed last year, was put back on its pedestal during a ceremony yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

A bronze bust of Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) that had been removed from the Presidential Office during the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration was restored to its original position yesterday on Sun’s 142nd birthday.

Officiating at a ceremony at the grand hall on the second floor of the Presidential Office building, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) told government officials in attendance that it was the right thing to do.

“This building is where the president of the Republic of China (ROC) works and it makes sense to have a bronze bust of the founding father of the ROC here,” Ma said.

“I hope the bust will remain here forever so local and foreign guests can pay their respects. It is important to all ROC citizens,” he said.

The bronze bust of Sun, which now reoccupies a pedestal at the top of the stairs, was removed in February last year and replaced with a potted Taiwanese cypress tree.

Ma, who had worked at the Presidential Office for seven years as English interpreter and assistant to former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), said yesterday that he had noticed the difference when he took the oath of office on May 20 and said it felt very strange.

He said he later found out that the bust was in storage in a warehouse in Sansia (三峽), Taipei County. He decided to move it back because he thought it was inappropriate to leave it in storage.

Ma said that since the building had been used as the office of the ROC president after the government relocated from China to Taiwan, the removal of the bust of Sun might have been the “biggest change” in the building’s history.

The president said he became even more determined to bring the bust back to the Presidential Office when he conducted a state visit to Central America and the Caribbean in August, where he noticed the nation’s diplomatic allies displaying busts of their founders in their presidential buildings.

Ma said the bust of Sun was made in 1957.

Sun established the Society for Regenerating China (興中會) in 1894 and overthrew the Qing Dynasty 18 years later. Sun was the first president of the ROC, although he stayed in office for only a short time, Ma said, adding that the restoration of the bust was a worthwhile endeavor.

As a historic figure revered on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Ma said, Sun deserved a place in the Presidential Office.

Yesterday also marked Chinese Cultural Revival Day.

Ma said some might consider the designation of the day a political move, as it had been observed since 1965 as part of the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement initiated by then-president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to counter China’s Cultural Revolution.

However, efforts to appreciate Chinese culture deserved recognition, Ma said.
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