A decision about the fate of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei would be made before early next year, Transitional Justice Commission members said yesterday.
The commission would also consider options for transitioning the Cihu Mausoleum (慈湖陵寢), where Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) is entombed, they told a news conference in Taipei.
The news conference had been called to announce the dates and locations of three public meetings on implementing transitional justice and a human-rights vision for the nation.
Photo: Wang Yi-song, Taipei Times
While legislation can provide recompense for the financial damages and loss to reputation suffered by victims of the White Terror era, such measures in themselves are not enough to meet the demands of justice, commission Deputy Chairman Chang Tien-chin (張天欽) said.
The commission is dedicated to recovering historical truths, removing authoritarian symbols and healing societal trauma, so it is inviting victims of political persecution or their surviving family members to the public meetings so that it can explain its goals and policies, and to hear their opinions, Chang said.
The first public meeting is to be held tomorrow at the Jingmei Human Rights Memorial and Cultural Park in Taipei’s Xindian District (新店), the commission said.
The second is scheduled for Sept. 16 at the Taichung Cultural and Creative Industries Park and the third will be at the Kaohsiung Municipal Library on Sept. 30.
The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall would “certainly undergo a transition,” which the Ministry of Culture has been preparing for since last year, commission member Yang Tsui (楊翠) said.
The commission would soon begin talks on the specifics, such as uses for the site and what should be down with Chiang’s statute, she said.
The ministry is drafting amendments to the Organization Act of National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Management Office (國立中正紀念堂管理處組織法), which would lay out the steps regarding those issues, she said.
Asked about commission’s plans for the Cihu Mausoleum, Yang said the mausoleum is “definitely on the commission’s agenda,” but it has not begun discussions about it.
Lan Yun-jo (藍芸若), the daughter of White Terror victim Lan Ming-ku (藍明谷), said it is not right that the persecutors have not been identified or that she had to live with the infamy of being the daughter of an accused communist spy for 70 years.
“My father would have been pleased to visit the memorial parks if they had imprisoned him for a dozen years instead of being shot,” she said. “Many victims are living in the shadow of history and I hope the commission would give us justice.”
Lang Ming-ku, a 32-year-old teacher in Keelung, was arrested in 1951 and executed without trial.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS