The Transitional Justice Commission is considering donating statues of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to willing communities, repurposing them as art or replacing them with statues of locally born people, commission Acting Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠) said on Wednesday.
There is more than one way to deal with authoritarian symbols such as statues of Chiang Kai-shek and former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), she said.
That could mean removing them, replacing them with statues of local historical or literary figures, converting them into installation art or giving them to former military dependents’ villages that might be interested in “adopting” them, she said.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
While removing the statues would be an option, it would not be the only one, she said.
The commission would consult experts and other government agencies before deciding what to do with the statues, she added.
While speaking to reporters in Taipei, Yang also called for more social dialogue on the issue.
The commission is planning to host a series of forums nationwide after the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections, she said.
It would invite local residents to discuss the relationship between authoritarian symbols, the private sphere and everyday life, and ask local historians to explore the relationship between authoritarian symbols and historical memory, she said.
Through these discussions, the commission would gather ideas for dealing with the authoritarian symbols, she added.
There are more than 1,000 statues of Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan, the commission said in its latest update.
However, this is not a final number, as the Hualien County Government and the Keelung City Government have yet to report the number of Chiang Kai-shek statues in their jurisdictions, Yang said, adding that they are expected to do so after the elections.
In related news, a representative from the Executive Yuan appeared in court on Wednesday after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus applied for a provisional injunction to terminate the appointment of Yang as acting commission chair due to concerns over the legality of the move.
The KMT caucus said the regulations on the formation of the commission do not specify how an acting chairperson or deputy chairperson should be appointed.
The representative said Yang’s appointment by Premier William Lai (賴清德) last month was an internal personnel matter that the judiciary should not interfere with.
If the commission had no acting chairperson, it would be unable to carry on its daily activities, they said.
The presiding judge asked the representative which law requires a chairperson to be present when the commission meets, asking: “Is there no one else who can chair the meeting apart from the commission chairperson?”
As the representative did not give an answer, the court asked for a response within three days.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS