Removing totems ‘unwise’: KMT’s Hung

By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter





Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians yesterday criticized the Ministry of Culture’s proposal to remove symbols related to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with Chiang’s great-grandson and KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) saying the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government should present a “full picture” of Chiang Kai-shek, rather than just focusing on his misdeeds.

The real aim of the proposal is not to dispose of totems relating to Chiang Kai-shek or Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), but to negate the Republic of China (ROC), KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said.

She called the removal “unwise,” saying it would polarize society and incite social division and hatred.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu, left, addresses a meeting of the Taipei Branch of the KMT’s Department of Youth Affairs yesterday, commenting on the Ministry of Culture’s announcement that it is working on a draft amendment to reinvent the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

The DPP’s objective is ideological; it wants to “amplify the impact of historical tragedies at a particular time,” KMT Central Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) said, adding that the nation has “more important things to do,” such as lowering the unemployment rate, solving the problem of low pay and improving cross-strait relations.

Calling the memorial hall an “important cultural resource” and a “major tourist attraction,” KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said it is a favorite destination of many Chinese tourists and facilitates the promotion of Taiwan’s democracy, progress and economic development.

President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration’s “inappropriate” proposal was made out of “ideological reasons,” he added.

Hau continued his criticism on Facebook, saying that the Tsai administration’s taking aim at the memorial hall reminded him of the way former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), near the end of his term, tried to distract public attention from his poor performance by “messing around with” the hall.

Hau wrote that it was he, in his then-capacity as Taipei mayor, who had prevented the DPP’s “malicious ideological act.”

In 2007, Chen proposed changing the hall’s name to the “National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall,” but was stymied by the Taipei City Government, which regarded the architecture, the plaza, the archways and the walls as city-level “historical sites.”

Hau, who is running for KMT chairman, also talked of Chiang Kai-shek’s “contribution in leading the nationalist army to protect Taiwan.”

“Without the Aug. 23 Artillery Battle that successfully safeguarded Taiwan, whose flag would have been flying over Taiwan? Would it be the ROC flag or the five-star [People’s Republic of China] flag? Would Taiwan still have today’s democracy, freedom and openness? Maybe even the DPP would not have existed,” Hau wrote.

On Aug. 23, 1958, the People’s Republic of China launched an intense artillery bombardment on Kinmen as China attempted to seize Matsu and Kinmen from the ROC.

While it is expected that the government would take certain actions to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the 228 Incident this year, Taiwan should be able to rationally present a full picture consisting of both Chiang Kai-shek’s achievements and misdeeds, Chiang Wan-an said.

Perhaps only his achievements were saluted during the authoritarian era, but the present government would be repeating the mistakes of that era if it mentioned only Chiang Kai-shek’s errors, and did not recount history in an objective and ideology-free way, he said.

The lawmaker said that he agrees with the proposal to use historical materials that show Chiang Kai-shek’s achievements and his misdeeds, adding that Taiwanese should have the opportunity to make their own judgements about their shared memories.

Additional Reporting by CNA