Three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors risked jail time after climbing onto the roof of the East Gate in Taipei City yesterday and slapping white paint over the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) emblem in protest against what they said was a “symbol of dictatorship.”
Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄), Liu Yao-ren (劉耀仁) and Huang Hsiang-chun (黃向群) accused Taipei City’s Department of Cultural Affairs last week of taking advantage of repair work on the East Gate — also known as Jingfu Men — and three other historical gates to paint the KMT’s emblem.
They climbed the scaffolding yesterday morning to paint over the white-and-blue emblem.
PHOTO: CNA
“The KMT emblem did not appear on the gate during the Qing Dynasty. What we are doing today is restoring the monument to its original appearance ... Goodbye to the KMT emblem,” Chuang said.
Huang criticized the city government and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration for seeking to restore dictatorship and one-party rule.
The councilors later showed the “tools” they used for the operation, including white paint, brushes and white protest banners, and ridiculed the police department for failing to protect the monument and to stop them.
“We didn’t know how much time we would have to paint out the emblem, but as it turns out no police were there to stop us, so we took our time to complete our restoration work,” Huang said.
The Department of Cultural Affairs began restoration work on the East Gate, the South Gate, the Little South Gate and the North Gate earlier this year with a budget of NT$7 million (US$215,000).
Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lee Yong-ping (李永萍) said the KMT emblems were first carved and painted in 1955 when the KMT modified the Qing Dynasty gates.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) accused the DPP councilors of damaging the historical monument and said the city government would bring them to justice.
“We must all be humble before national monuments. Even as a mayor, I cannot order the department to make the emblem disappear. DPP councilors had no right to express their views in such a manner,” Hau said after presiding over a municipal meeting.
Lee said the councilors violated Article 21 of the Culture Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法), which stipulates that any restoration work on national monuments should be done according to their original appearance.
The three could face up to five years in jail or fines up to NT$1 million.
It would be inappropriate to paint the KMT emblem on the gates if the symbol was not there originally, Hau said. As such, the city government invited all city councilors and experts to discuss the matter in a public hearing today, he said.
The three DPP councilors should express their opinion at the public hearing rather than by defacing monuments, he said.
The city government will take the results of the public hearings and share them with the Council of Cultural Affairs, which will make a final decision on the matter, Hau said.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS