The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall should be transformed into a multipurpose Pan East Asian Memorial Hall.
Not only should it be a memorial for the 228 victims, it should also serve as a memorial for all the victims of the Republic of China, pre and post-1949. It should serve as a memorial for the World War II Allied prisoners of war, whose memorials in Taiwan are puny in comparison to CKS Memorial Hall. It should serve as a memorial for all the World War II comfort women, Taiwanese Aborigines who were close to being decimated during Japanese rule and the victims of Japanese aggression against China in the 1930s.
The memorial should counter Japanese ultra-nationalists by commemorating Japanese who were assassinated for their moderate views during the rise of Japanese militarism in the early 20th century.
The memorial should provide solace to the victims of the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Ultimately, the renamed memorial should serve as a reminder to avoid repeating the atrocities of the past and that no nation stands above the crimes committed throughout history.
Allen Timothy Chang
Hsinchu
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