The Keelung City Government plans to remove statues that depict Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from the city’s schools and public offices, Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said yesterday.
Casting flowers into the harbor in Keeling, hundreds of people — mostly families of victims of the March 8, 1947, massacre by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops — gathered to remember the tragedy.
The March 8 massacre occurred after KMT troops disembarked in Keelung, sent by Chiang to repress uprisings against the regime in Taiwan.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
The memorial service was held at the city’s Maritime Plaza adjacent to where the troops landed 68 years ago.
“This is the first time that the city government is working with non-governmental groups to hold a memorial service for the event. We should all remember the lesson, and never let it happen again,” Lin said at the event. “I would like to announce that, starting now, statues of Chiang Kai-shek will be removed from official buildings and school campuses.”
“The city government will handle it step by step,” Lin added.
The statues would not be removed immediately, and the city government would wait until pubic facilities are renovated, he added.
Lin’s attitude on the statues has made a complete reversal from last week, when he was asked if Keelung would follow suit after Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) announced that the southern city would remove all statues of Chiang from schools. At the time, Lin said that he had no plan to do so, since the statues are meaningless today.
He did not explain why he changed his mind.
Lin’s announcement echoed a call made at the event by Democratic Progressive Party Keelung City Councilor Yu Hsiang-yao (游祥耀), who is also director of the Keelung 228 Memorial Foundation.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
Three tropical depressions yesterday intensified into tropical storms, with one likely to affect Taiwan as a typhoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The three storms, named Mitag, Ragasa and Neoguri, were designated as storms No. 17 to 19 for this year, the CWA said. Projected routes indicate that Ragasa is most likely to affect Taiwan, it said. As of 2am today, Ragasa was 1,370km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) on the southernmost tip of Taiwan. It was moving west-northwest before turning northwest, slowing from 11kph to 6kph, the agency said. A sea warning for Ragasa is unlikely before Sunday afternoon, but its outer rim