The Taiwan 228 Incident Care Association on Monday last week again called for the removal of the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) statue from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.
The call came after Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) on Jan. 22 allegedly threw eggs at the statue.
Chen said his actions were in protest of comments made by Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得), who said he did not support the removal of the statue, as protesters seeking to get rid of the sculpture have been taking “a more moderate approach.”
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“Chiang the mass murderer must take responsibility for committing atrocities in the Feb. 28, 1947, massacre,” the association said in a statement.
The Incident refers to a massacre by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, under Chiang’s leadership, of civilian demonstrators in Taipei. About 18,000 to 28,000 people were killed during the subsequent government crackdown, which lasted into early May 1947.
“Several hundred Chiang statues remain, and the largest one is at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. It is up to our government leaders to have the resolve to remove them,” the statement said.
The statement said that Chiang in October 1945 instructed the military to confiscate rice, food and essentials from Taiwanese to ship to China for soldiers fighting in the Chinese Civil War.
“At the time, the KMT regime restricted all government positions for Mainlanders, and ruled Taiwan by segregation. Corruption, bribery, looting and abuse of power were abundant in that regime, which also seized Taiwanese property and assets,” it added.
These repressive policies caused resentment and discontent among Taiwanese, leading to the 228 Incident, it said.
Chiang had directly intervened in 3,195 political prosecutions, resulting in the execution of 876 people during the White Terror era, the association said, citing research about the period.
“Taiwanese are not as docile as Lee seemed to suggest. People are still asking questions about how Chiang with his KMT troops seized power by military force, forcibly seized Taiwanese’s land and money,” it said. “A mass murderer whose hands are tainted with many people’s blood, and yet this dictator’s statue is still on display at the memorial hall, where it is protected by military police.”
The association suggested that following the removal of the statue, the memorial hall could be converted into a museum affiliated with an academic research center for studying international politics and authoritarian regimes.
“The government must reveal Taiwan’s history and the truth of what took place, and must let people of all generations know that there is no legitimate reason for the statue of a mass murderer to occupy the largest memorial hall in the nation,” it said.
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