On the eve of the 72nd anniversary of the 228 Incident, an independence campaigner known as Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) hurled bags of rice porridge with squid at the main statue at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.
Chen stepped over the cordon in front of the bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) before throwing two bags at it and reportedly shouting “Chiang Kai-shek is an evil mass murderer” into a microphone before being tackled by police.
In January, veteran entertainer Lisa Cheng (鄭心儀) slapped Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) in the face during a banquet, angered by the minister’s talk of abolishing the memorial.
Chen and Lisa Cheng’s actions were the latest in a long line of protests and political incidents over what to do with the shrine to Chiang whose main feature is the 6.3m statue. The government urgently needs to settle on a plan.
Many in the pan-green camp view Chiang as a tyrant with blood-soaked hands and are adamant that all iconography related to him should be expunged from public spaces, while many in the pan-blue camp have argued that while grave mistakes were made, without the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) fortification of Taiwan against a Chinese invasion, it would have long ago been subjugated by Beijing.
The nation remains deeply divided over how to interpret Chiang’s legacy for future generations.
However, there is one way to resolve this conundrum that could satisfy those on both sides of the political spectrum: Turn the memorial hall into a space honoring Taiwan’s presidents, as former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) has suggested.
Space considerations would mean that the massive bronze statue of Chiang would have to be replaced with a smaller one, but keeping the memorial hall and a more modest statue of Chiang should be far more palatable to the pan-blue camp than comprehensively repurposing or demolishing the structure, as some have demanded.
Each statue would be of equal height and could flank the walls of the chamber in chronological order.
A smaller statue of Chiang could be joined by one of his son former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), as well as those of other former presidents after their deaths.
The building could be renamed the “Presidents’ Memorial Hall” and the popular ceremonial military guards could be retained to guard the statues of all past presidents, not just that of Chiang Kai-shek.
Although Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) last month backed Lu’s idea, Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i (林萬億) on Wednesday last week said that no decision would be made about the memorial hall any time soon.
The government needs to stop prevaricating.
Transforming the memorial hall into a presidents’ memorial would go a long way toward healing old wounds and provide a focal point to celebrate Taiwan’s transition to democracy.
It is the only feasible way to put this long-running issue to bed.
There are moments in history when America has turned its back on its principles and withdrawn from past commitments in service of higher goals. For example, US-Soviet Cold War competition compelled America to make a range of deals with unsavory and undemocratic figures across Latin America and Africa in service of geostrategic aims. The United States overlooked mass atrocities against the Bengali population in modern-day Bangladesh in the early 1970s in service of its tilt toward Pakistan, a relationship the Nixon administration deemed critical to its larger aims in developing relations with China. Then, of course, America switched diplomatic recognition
The international women’s soccer match between Taiwan and New Zealand at the Kaohsiung Nanzih Football Stadium, scheduled for Tuesday last week, was canceled at the last minute amid safety concerns over poor field conditions raised by the visiting team. The Football Ferns, as New Zealand’s women’s soccer team are known, had arrived in Taiwan one week earlier to prepare and soon raised their concerns. Efforts were made to improve the field, but the replacement patches of grass could not grow fast enough. The Football Ferns canceled the closed-door training match and then days later, the main event against Team Taiwan. The safety
The Chinese government on March 29 sent shock waves through the Tibetan Buddhist community by announcing the untimely death of one of its most revered spiritual figures, Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche. His sudden passing in Vietnam raised widespread suspicion and concern among his followers, who demanded an investigation. International human rights organization Human Rights Watch joined their call and urged a thorough investigation into his death, highlighting the potential involvement of the Chinese government. At just 56 years old, Rinpoche was influential not only as a spiritual leader, but also for his steadfast efforts to preserve and promote Tibetan identity and cultural
Strategic thinker Carl von Clausewitz has said that “war is politics by other means,” while investment guru Warren Buffett has said that “tariffs are an act of war.” Both aphorisms apply to China, which has long been engaged in a multifront political, economic and informational war against the US and the rest of the West. Kinetically also, China has launched the early stages of actual global conflict with its threats and aggressive moves against Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan, and its support for North Korea’s reckless actions against South Korea that could reignite the Korean War. Former US presidents Barack Obama
RSS