The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday condemned vandalism of a bronze statue of Republic of China (ROC) founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) in Greater Tainan and called for a rational view of the country’s history.
The 3m-tall statue in Tang Te-chang Memorial Park was pulled down on Saturday by members of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan, a pro-independence group, to the consternation of KMT city councilors.
The KMT gravely condemns the vandalism, KMT Culture and Communication Committee head Fan Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) said in a statement.
Photo: Wang Chun-chung, Taipei Times
“The Democratic Progressive Party-ruled city government’s failure to properly maintain a historic monument and protect cultural assets is regrettable,” Fan Chiang said, calling for restoration of the statue as soon as possible.
Sun established the first democratic country in Asia in 1911 and left a significant legacy of advocacy for democracy, human rights and freedom, Fan Chiang said.
“It’s deeply regrettable that a small group of people have defaced Sun’s statue in a non-democratic action,” he said.
The KMT hopes people will view history in a rational manner and refrain from radical actions that could stir up ethnic conflict and disrupt social harmony, Fan Chiang added.
He was referring to the 228 Massacre, an anti-government uprising in 1947 and subsequent brutal crackdown by the then KMT-led government.
In 1997, the then-Tainan city government converted a historic park into the Tang Te-chang Memorial Park in commemoration of Tang Te-chang (湯德章, 1907-1947), a Tainan resident and lawyer who was executed by Nationalist Army military forces on charges of rebellion during the crackdown.
When Tang was arrested by soldiers, he quickly burned a list of the names of participants in the local Settlement Committee, a move that saved the lives of a number of leading residents and students whose names were on the list.
On Saturday, Sun’s statue in the park was smeared with paint and pulled down by pro-independence advocates, led by Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan convener Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴).
As Peace Memorial Day on Feb. 28 is drawing near, “we want to take action to show our support for the 228 victims,” Tsay said.
Tsay was arrested for damaging public assets and disrupting public order, but was released after questioning.
The police later decided to send the case to prosecutors.
City Councilor Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), who is also a member of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee, blasted the city government and police, saying they had allowed “mobs” to topple the statue and he called for its restoration.
Meanwhile, the city government expressed regret over the incident, saying it was not in keeping with the city’s plans to restore historic sites that dated back to the era of Japanese occupation from 1895 to 1945.
The local government said its historic architecture and cultural landscape commission is carrying out a study, after which a decision will be made on whether to restore the statue.
The city government had planned to relocate the statue last year, but was forced to put the plan on hold due to strong opposition by KMT politicians and supporters.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS