Source: SCMP (4/22/24)
Taiwan will tear down all remaining statues of Chiang Kai-shek in public spaces
DPP government says more than 760 statues of Chiang, who ruled the island for nearly three decades, will be swiftly removed. The move is seen as a bid to erase his legacy and ‘will be seen as an unfriendly gesture towards mainland China’, analyst says
By Lawrence Chung in Taipei
There are hundreds of statues of late president Chiang Kai-shek in public spaces across Taiwan. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Taiwan’s government will remove all remaining statues of late president Chiang Kai-shek from public spaces in what is seen as a bid to erase his legacy and the historical link with mainland China.
Chiang ruled the island for nearly three decades until his death in 1975. He had led his Nationalist or Kuomintang troops to Taiwan in 1949 and set up an interim government on the island, declaring martial law, after being defeated in a civil war by the Communists on the mainland.
Taiwan’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party government set up a transitional justice commission in 2018 to investigate Chiang’s rule, finding perceived political dissidents had been persecuted and he had misused government funds to benefit the KMT.
One of the commission’s proposals was to remove thousands of Chiang statues across Taiwan. Critics have branded Chiang as a dictator who sent troops to kill hundreds of civilians during unrest in 1947 and say he does not deserve to be remembered.
On Monday, a cabinet official told the legislature that the interior ministry would swiftly remove the more than 760 statues of Chiang that are still standing across the island. Continue reading
