Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) should be removed from Taiwanese banknotes and coins, the Transitional Justice Commission said in its final report as the ministy-level organization prepares to close tomorrow.
Chiang’s likeness should be removed from coins and notes when the central bank carries out a redesign of the nation’s currency, said the report, an official copy of which was handed to Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) by the commission’s acting minister Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) at a ceremony in Taipei on Friday.
Images of Chiang are on NT$1 and NT$5 coins, and NT$200 banknotes.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Citing the findings of two expert panels that the commission organized in 2019, the report said the purpose of currency design is to promote symbols and values that unify the nation and represent it to the outside world.
The prominence of Chiang and Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) on money suggests an overemphasis on political leadership and the glorification of “strongmen,” which is at odds with democratic norms, it said.
Chiang’s “dictatorial” reign was responsible for “undermining the democratic constitutional order, utilizing state violence and human rights infringements,” it said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Putting Chiang on coins and banknotes implies that an authoritarian ruler is the nation’s unifying symbol and that his regime represents its values, the report said.
The government has a legal responsibility to remove authoritarian symbols under the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例), which supersedes the central bank’s concerns about costs, it said.
Coins and banknotes bearing Chiang’s image should be taken out of circulation and replaced with new designs to be selected via an appropriate process that enables civic participation, the report said.
The replacement designs should underscore the nation’s cultural distinctiveness, natural landscape and the progressive values of cultural diversity, gender equality and environmentalism, it said.
The process should be conducted bearing in mind the need to facilitate societal dialogue and the formation of national identity, it said.
The report also made three suggestions regarding the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.
The statue of Chiang at the hall should be relocated, the function and appearance of the hall should be altered and anything in the park related to the “worship” of authoritarian figures should be removed, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS