The potential abolishment of a civilian order named after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) requires further discussion, the Ministry of the Interior said in a recent report to the legislature.
The Order of Chiang Chung-cheng with Grand Cordon uses a name Chiang had given himself. Many consider the decoration as reinforcing a cult of authoritarianism surrounding the former leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, which ruled Taiwan following the Republic of China’s retreat to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War.
Lawmakers have since as early as 2017 sought to abolish the order.
Photo: Screen grab from the Presidential Office’s Web site
One of five civilian orders issued by the government, the Order of Chiang Chung-cheng with Grand Cordon can be awarded by the president to people for their “outstanding achievement in implementing the Three Principles of the People,” “outstanding contribution in debunking communism and the building of the nation,” “outstanding performance in the rehabilitation of Chinese culture” or “outstanding services in implementing the democratic constitution,” it said.
Twelve people have been awarded the order: military advisers to the president Ku Chu-tung (顧祝同) and Chang Yuan (張爰); former senior adviser to the president Chang Chun (張群); former vice presidents Lien Chan (連戰), Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) and Wu Den-yih (吳敦義); former Control Yuan president Fredrick Chien (錢復); former Judicial Yuan presidents Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) and Lai In-jaw (賴英照); former premiers Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄); and former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
Although the Transitional Justice Commission in 2022 called for the removal or renaming of symbols or memorial items related to Chiang, symbols such as the order are managed by multiple agencies and cannot be disposed of by a single authority, the ministry said in the report.
Article 5 of the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例) states that “to establish a liberal democratic constitutional order, deny the legitimacy of authoritarian rule and learn the historical lessons of human rights abuses, symbols appearing in public buildings or places that commemorate or express nostalgia for authoritarian rulers shall be removed, renamed or dealt with in some other way.”
Full consideration is required to review regulations so that the order can be renamed, changed or given new meanings relevant to modern Taiwan, the report said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said that the order, established by the Presidential Office in 1980 in commemoration of Chiang, is a symbol of authoritarianism and a product of the authoritarian era.
The DPP administration ceased presenting the order in 2017 after initiating a campaign to promote transitional justice, he said, adding that the approach was “pragmatic” in avoiding controversies.
A broader consensus among Taiwanese should be achieved through more discussions before a decision is made on whether to sustain or abolish the order, he said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS