The Ministry of National Defense has officially removed terms “to pay homage” and “mausoleum” in references to the final resting places of former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) as part of transitional justice efforts.
The ministry on April 22 issued a notice changing the Armed Forces Reserve Command Taoyuan Division Management Regulations on Affairs of Paying Homage (國防部全民防衛動員署後備指揮部桃園管理組開放謁靈管理須知) to Armed Forces Reserve Command Taoyuan Division Management Regulations on Affairs of Paying Homage for the Cihu and Dasi Base (國防部全民防衛動員署後備指揮部慈湖營區暨大溪營區開放管理要點).
The Cihu (慈湖) and Dasi (大溪) areas are now referred to as bases and not “mausoleums,” and that applications to visit them, which used to include language of “paying homage,” have been changed to applications to visit the area where the sarcophagi of the two Chiangs are, the ministry said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The move was in response to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) last month asking whether the government intended to remove the honor guards posted at Cihu and Dasi.
Chiu also asked whether the government intended to draft regulations regarding the usage of “to pay homage” and “mausoleum,” stating that the purpose of the military is to defend the nation, not to protect the graves of autocrats.
The word “mausoleum” carries imperial connotations, Chiu said, adding that the request of then-Taoyuan mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) that the Ministry of National Defense dispatch honor guards to the sites on the grounds of stimulating tourism was a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Since his death on April 5, 1975, Chiang Kai-shek’s sarcophagus has been at Cihu and has not been interred, while the sarcophagus of his son Chiang Ching-kuo, who died on Jan. 13, 1988, is at Dasi.
The Presidential Office and the military at the time dispatched the military police to the areas to protect the areas and established the Taoyuan Management Division to oversee and maintain the sites.
The terms “to pay homage” and “mausoleum” in reference to the former presidents of the KMT regime have carried over into common parlance even after Taiwan became a democracy.
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