’SAVIOR’ to ’BUTCHER’:A DPP councilor said that while he sympathized with public’s sentiment, he could not agree with damaging public property
Taipei Times
Date: Mar 01, 2016
By: Su Chin-feng and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
A monument to former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) in a Taichung park
Democratic Progressive Party City Councilor Chang Yao-chung gestures toward a vandalized monument to late president Chiang Kai-shek in Nanyuang Park in Taichung’s Nantun District yesterday. Photo: Su Chin-feng, Taipei Times
was yesterday vandalized, with the Chinese characters for “butcher” spray-painted in red paint over its original inscription that reads “Savior of the Nation.” Red paint was also splashed on Chiang’s bust.
The graffiti on the monument in Nanyuang Park (南苑公園) in the city’s Nantun District (南屯) was discovered by visitors yesterday morning, who reported the incident to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) City Councilor Chang Yao-chung (張耀中).
At a news conference held at the park, Chang said that while he sympathizes with the public’s sentiment that the “painful history” of the 228 Massacre should not be “forgotten or ignored,” destroying or damaging public property is “not an appropriate exercise of the freedom of speech.”
The 228 Massacre refers to a crackdown launched by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime against civilian demonstrations following an incident in Taipei on Feb. 27, 1947.
The event marked the beginning of the White Terror era that saw thousands of Taiwanese arrested, imprisoned or executed. [FULL STORY]
