When I read National Taipei University of Education honorary professor Lee Hsiao-feng’s (李筱峰) article “Memorial hall perfect home for legislature,” (May 2, page 8), in which he suggested that Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall might be the best place to accommodate the Legislative Yuan, I was in complete agreement.
The use of a high-school building as the site for the national legislature says a lot about the attitude of the government toward public will during Taiwan’s authoritarian period, but that choice was made 60 years ago.
The absurdity is that, not too far from the current site of the legislature, opposite the Presidential Office building, sits Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with its main structure taking up 15,000m2 within a 240,000m2 plot of land.
It is almost as if Taiwan continues to exist within the era of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son, who succeeded him as president, Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). If Taiwan wants to become a mature democracy, how can it continue to disregard the Legislative Yuan, which houses the nation’s elected representatives, while venerating a hall that commemorates the person who most represents the former authoritarian regime?
Lee’s suggestion not only addresses these issues in a single, simple solution, his idea would also be a milestone in Taiwan’s democratic progress. Demolishing the memorial hall and moving the bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek is the form of transitional justice that many Taiwanese have long envisaged. To have the legislature in Liberty Square opposite the Presidential Office building, which represents state power, would be the best solution.
As the present legislative compound is only 1.9 hectares, not including several open spaces, it should be no problem to find space for it at the memorial hall site.
The hall should be divided in two. The first part should be for the legislature, including the main legislative chamber and the meeting venues, the offices of the speaker, deputy speaker and main parties, and the reception areas.
The second part should be made into an exhibition area devoted to Taiwan’s democracy, showing the past several centuries of colonialism and how Taiwanese courageously resisted invasion, and explaining how the nation transitioned from authoritarian rule to democracy after the era of the two Chiangs.
This area would include explanations of the special contribution of figures in Taiwan and from overseas to the ongoing process of democratization. This would express the gratitude of Taiwanese to the contribution of such people and ensure that they are not forgotten.
A renovated version of Liberty Square such as this would be home not only to the cultural venues of the National Theater and the National Concert Hall, it would also be a symbol of democracy facing the Presidential Office building, the seat of the democratically elected head of state.
Taiwanese would likely be receptive to this idea as the best way to achieve transitional justice and to strengthen the roots of democracy.
Twu Shiing-jer is a former director-general of the Department of Health, which is now the Ministry of Health and Welfare, a former legislator and a former national policy adviser.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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