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.
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