Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) yesterday defended his administration’s removal of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) statues from city schools, saying the move was a step toward transitional justice by freeing students from political totems and restoring political neutrality on campuses.
His comments came a day after the Tainan City Government removed statues from 14 elementary and junior-high schools.
Some residents, including former Tainan county commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), criticized the operation as “secretive” because the schools were not notified in advance, although they were told to take photographs as proof the statues were taken down after the removal teams arrived.
Photo: Lin Tzu-hsiang, Taipei Times
Su is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as is Lai.
“Must [the removals] be carried out in such an unthoughtful manner that may provoke conflicts,” Su wrote in a Facebook post.
However, Lai yesterday reminded critics that during events last month to mark the 68th anniversary of the 228 Incident, he said that the city government would remove statues and busts of Chiang from the city’s schools.
The city government did not inform school authorities of the exact date of the removal operation to avoid unnecessary conflicts or disturbing classes, he said.
The statues would be sent to Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪), he said.
The Cihu Memorial Sculpture Garden adjacent to Chiang’s mausoleum in Dasi has about 200 statues and busts of the former president that have been removed from schools, parks and other places around the nation since 2000.
Lai said the schools could decide for themselves how to use the space formerly occupied by a Chiang statue, and the city would subsidize their plans.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and other party members criticized the Tainan City Government’s removal of the statues.
Tsai said it was another example of Lai’s tendency to rave about Japanese-related affairs.
“How can the greatness of Japan be demonstrated without renouncing Chiang Kei-shek?” Tsai said.
Lai does not understand that heaping praise on Japan at the expense of the Republic of China’s leadership might bring the nation to destruction instead of independence, the lawmaker said.
Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), head of the KMT’s Tainan chapter, said the removal of the statues was an attempt to purge an important historical figure from the public’s memory.
Chiang’s merits or failures should be openly discussed, but Lai is using his personal popularity and political views to polarize society, Hsieh said.
However, DPP Tainan City Councilor Chiu Li-li (邱莉莉) backed the city’s action, saying the Chiang statues were products of a totalitarian regime.
Schools are where knowledge and values are passed down, and only statues representing figures that have had a positive impact on society should be placed on campuses, she said.
Chiu’s colleague, DPP City Councilor Chen Yi-chen (陳怡珍), said the Chiang statues are symbols of an authoritarian regime, which should have been removed from the school campuses long ago.
Additional reporting by CNA
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by