Kaohsiung’s National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) is to host a school-wide referendum tomorrow to decide whether to move the statues of Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) and Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) on its campus.
The referendum reflects Taiwan’s democratic education and is the first of its kind among the nation’s colleges and universities, NSYSU’s administration said in the announcement.
Under an atmosphere of rationality and mutual respect, the school can hopefully resolve an issue that has concerned its students and faculty for a long time, it added.
Photo: Huang Hsu-lei, Taipei Times
Student representatives on Oct. 21, 2016, at a university affairs meeting proposed removing the statues that stand outside the university’s Info-Library Building.
The administration at the end of that year formed an ad hoc committee and on Nov. 3 last year decided to host a school-wide referendum on the issue.
Online voting is to open at 9am tomorrow and close at 4pm on Thursday, the Office of Student Affairs said on Friday.
Students and faculty who were enrolled or employed as of Tuesday are eligible to vote in the referendum, as well as Chinese and other foreign students, the office added.
Participants may select one of three options: keep the statues where they are, move them to a different location on campus or move them off-campus, the office said.
A total of 10,862 people are eligible to vote and there is no minimum voter turnout requirement for the referendum to pass, it added.
The bronze statues are landmarks, an unnamed NSYSU professor said, asking if the university could retain its name if the statue of Sun is removed.
Others have proposed removing Chiang’s statue, but keeping the one of Sun, saying that the former is often vandalized while the latter is relatively uncontroversial.
A referendum is the best way to decide how campus space is used and how history should be perceived, NSYSU student association president Yuan Ho-ching (袁禾青) said, adding that no matter the result, it would be the collective decision of the entire school community.
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
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
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS