The government's plan to bury the late presidents Chiang Kai-shek (
"It would be excessive to bury them in a state funeral." said Senior Presidential Advisor Koo Kuan-min (
Koo made the comments yesterday at a seminar dealing with the campaign led by former president Lee Teng-hui (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Koo, 78, is known for his sharp criticism of President Chen Shui-bian (
However, he strongly opposed the idea of a state funeral to honor the interment of the late presidents.
"There must be a reason why Chiang and his son chose not to be buried in Taiwan," Koo said, referring to their wishes to be buried in their hometown in China.
"When both Chiangs died, they were not interred in the form of a state burial. Therefore, it is unnecessary to do it now as the timing has gone. Furthermore, both Chiangs were no longer the presidents, so there is no need for a state burial," Koo said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) leader Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong's (
Chiang Ching-kuo is respected for ending martial law in 1987 and for starting to loosen Mainlanders' monopolization of political power by allowing more native Taiwanese to serve in the KMT government, among them Lee, who later became his successor as president.
The bodies of the two late presidents currently lie embalmed in temporary mausoleums in Taoyuan County. Chen has recently instructed the military to prepare for their burial according to the State Funeral Law (
Commenting on whether the Taiwan interment of the Chiangs would mean they identified with Taiwan, Koo said "This has to be judged by history. It's not something people living today can decide."
Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (
Yao also opposed the idea that the country fly flags at half-staff on the day of the state funeral, saying "It would be too much to do that. The state funerals held when they died were already very huge in scale. There is no need to do that again. Even I had paid my homage to them before," Yao said.
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