The Transitional Justice Commission plans to complete its survey of roads named “Zhongzheng” (中正) — a name adopted by Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) — by September, it said on Saturday.
It wants to establish the number of roads nationwide with names symbolic of the nation’s authoritarian past, as well as the history behind the names.
The survey is being conducted in accordance with the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例), which establishes the illegality of symbolism commemorating the authoritarian period in public spaces, and requires such symbols to be removed, it said.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The authoritarian-era Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government credited Chiang as the “savior of the Chinese race” and renamed numerous roads Zhongzheng as a way of having his name regularly spoken by the public, the committee said.
One of the most notable examples is Pingtung’s main street.
The road had long been nicknamed Coconut Grove Avenue (椰林大道) for the trees that line it on both sides, which give it a tropical island feel, but renaming it was done to evoke images of the then-president, the commission said.
Several other main roads around the nation were similarly renamed, including those in what is now New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊), Houlong Township (後龍) in Miaoli County and Magong on Penghu, it said.
The government does not have complete records on the renamed roads, so the commission said it asked outside experts to assist it.
The commission last year began a survey of national parks to determine the number and location of statues of Chiang, and the road survey is a continuation of those efforts, it said.
Information provided by Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) showed that there are 152 Chiang statues in the three branches of the military’s various facilities, it said.
Meanwhile, the issue of the huge statue at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei has temporarily been put on hold, it said.
The Veteran Affairs Council and the Ministry of National Defense have expressed conservative positions on proposals to remove the statue, and a cross-departmental meeting would be convened to discuss it, the commission said.
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard
BOOST TO SPORTS? The Executive Yuan said that the amendment was introduced to attract professionals to Taiwan, and increase the incentives for naturalization The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed on third reading an amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法) that would reduce the minimum residency period required for highly skilled professionals to apply for naturalization from three to two continuous years, with a minimum of 183 days in Taiwan each year. The 183-day requirement does not apply if an eligible applicant has lived legally in the territory of the Republic of China for more than five continuous years. Taiwan’s professional basketball leagues are expected to benefit from the amendments, which would allow them to recruit more players from overseas. Prior to the passage of the amendment, the
Germany sent two warships to the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday in a bid to strengthen its military presence in the region amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea. Those tensions were putting pressure on the freedom of navigation and free passage on trade routes, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the northern German navy base in Wilhelmshaven. Some 40% of Europe’s foreign trade flows through the South China Sea. “Looking the other way, showing no presence in the Indo-Pacific in support of the international rules-based order, that’s not an option for Germany,” he told reporters before