More than 350 streets are named after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) or his son Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), due to an edict issued during the nation’s authoritarian era, a study by the Transitional Justice Commission showed.
The survey of the Ministry of the Interior’s records of road names, online search engines and archival material found that 316 roads are named “Jhongjheng” (中正), a name adopted by Chiang Kai-shek, the commission said.
Twenty-eight roads are named “Jieshou” (介壽) — which is an abbreviation of the slogan “long live Chiang Kai-shek” — and 11 are named “Jingguo” (經國) after Chiang Ching-kuo, it added.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The survey was conducted as part of an effort to rename roads that evoke authoritarian slogans and symbols, it said.
The proliferation of streets named after the Chiangs stemmed from a 1945 executive order to rename roads throughout Taiwan, which the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime had taken control of, it said.
The order from the then-Taiwan Provincial Government said that all street names honoring Japanese, the state of Japan or otherwise derived from Japanese were to be changed within two months, the commission said.
The new street names had to represent the “spirit of the Chinese people,” promote the Three Principles of the People, honor a national hero or recognize the geography or customs of an area, the commission cited the order as saying.
Examples of acceptable street names listed in the order included Jhonghua (中華), Sinyi (信義), Heping (和平), Sanmin (三民) and those that utilize the names of Chiang Kai-shek or Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), it said.
The implementation of the order in the two years that followed would form the basis of most street names used today, the commission said.
The post-war push to rename streets was motivated by a desire to replace representations of Japanese colonialism with symbols of Chinese authoritarianism, an effort that was indifferent to the identities and culture of Taiwan’s residents, it said.
Place names play an important role in forming the identity of the community living there, and reflect its cultural and historical context, the commission said, adding that the authoritarian-era names should be replaced.
Citing the Development of National Languages Act (國家語言發展法) and the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法), the commission said that new road names should promote the country’s local languages and culture, including those of Aboriginal communities.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS