Following a standoff between supporters and protesters at the Tang Te-chang Park in Greater Tainan yesterday, the Greater Tainan Government announced that it would delay a plan to relocate a statue of Republic of China founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙).
The controversy over the statue started in early February, when Northern Taiwan Society executive head Sherry Huang (黃淑純) complained that there was only a half-lifesize statue of 228 Incident hero Tang Te-chang (湯德章) on the periphery of the park, while a full-size bronze statue of Sun was prominently placed in the center.
Tang was a lawyer in Tainan during the 228 Incident and was burning a list of names of people who participated in the activities of the local Settlement Committee when Nationalist soldiers showed up to arrest him.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
He was severely beaten while he put up a fierce resistance in a bid to allow the list to be burned completely. He was executed the following day.
His actions saved the lives of a number of leading Tainan residents and students whose names were on the list.
The 228 Incident refers to an uprising in 1947 against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime and the resulting brutal crackdown that left tens of thousands dead, and led to nearly four decades of martial law.
The city government had originally planned to relocate Sun’s statue to the Ka Ba Sua Elementary School’s Shueiyun campus in Dongshan District (東山) on Friday.
The KMT caucus in the city council, as well as the Greater Tainan KMT headquarters branch, strongly condemned the move and also criticized Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai’s (賴清德) actions.
The KTM city councilors took turns standing beside Sun’s statue to guard against it being removed and their resolve was bolstered by visits from others who protested against the decision to remove the statue.
There was even a flower basket allegedly sent by Sun’s granddaughter, Lily Sui-fong Sun (孫穗芳), reading: “Many thanks to the people of Tainan who stood guard for my family.”
City government supporters waved banners in front of the National Museum of Taiwanese Literature, which is near the park, and said that the city government was right in giving Tang justice because he was a victim of the 228 Incident.
Seeing the banners, protesters made a banner of their own, reading: “The founding father also wants his living rights.”
Meanwhile, the city government took down the scaffolding that had been erected around the statue and announced a delay in the relocation, but said that the relocation was inevitable.
The relocation is to safeguard the rights of residents and to protect a historical relic, the city government said, adding that other counties and cities had done the same thing.
The relocation of statues to be collectively stored in one location is very common, the city government said, adding that the relocation of the statue had nothing to do with politics.
The decision was completely legal and we would like to ask for the support of residents, the city government said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS