The National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) earlier this week voted to remove a bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from its campus and to relocate the structure to an indoor location.
The move came after protests led by students earlier this year.
At a school affairs meeting on Wednesday, more than half of those present voted to relocate the statue — currently located nearby Cheng Kung Lake (成功湖) on the campus — to the university’s archive. The relocation is slated to take place early next year.
Photo: Meng Ching-tzu, Taipei Times
An official from the university was quoted as saying that “the statue is part of history. There is no need to destroy it, otherwise these pieces of history won’t be found in the future.”
On Feb. 28 this year, a group of NCKU students marked the 65th anniversary of the 228 Incident by staging an art installation on campus to symbolize the horrific and brutal moment in Taiwanese history in the hope of raising public awareness about the nation’s past mistakes.
Members of the student organization 02 Group (零貳社) — whose name is a phonetic translation of “protest” in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) — hung a placard reading “1947-2012” on the statue and placed the names of victims of the 228 Massacre around the statue.
The 228 Incident refers to a massacre that sparked a massive 1947 nationwide uprising against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime. The uprising was brutally crushed in a violent crackdown spearheaded by the state. That tragic event also marked the beginning of the White Terror era that saw thousands of people arrested, imprisoned and executed.
The students’ art installation this February stirred heated debate at the university about whether the statue should be removed.
Chen Yi-chen (陳以箴), head of the 02 Group, said the school’s decision to move the statue is a major breakthrough.
“This is just the beginning. We should dismantle all the symbols of authoritarian rule which still exist on campus,” she said.
She added that the university is treating the decision as a simple act of relocating a statue and is unwilling to consider the wider issues of authoritarianism on campus.
“Our university is quite conservative. In classrooms, administration facilities, in the interactions between faculty and students there are still leftovers of a past authoritarian mentality. Such a mentality needs be removed,” she said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
RSS