Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/27
By: Wang Chao-yu and S.C. Chang

Taipei, April 27 (CNA) A statue of China’s former Premier Wen Jiabao was unveiled as a “Taiwan Hero” at a private cultural park in Keelung on Wednesday, but under pressure from the local mayor, the statue is likely to remain there for just one day.

The unveiling of the statue appeared to have been a public relations stunt by Yong Heng Creative Culture Park, which invited the media to the ceremony, saying only that it was a statue of a “Taiwan hero.”

Many of the people at the ceremony seemed surprised when they saw the statue, which depicts a barefooted Wen holding a pair of leather shoes.

At the base of the statue there are two Chinese characters that mean harmony, while on each side there is a couplet, one reading “Opened up Chinese tourism to Taiwan as part of China’s Taiwan-friendly policy,” and the other saying “Maintained cross-strait peace and expanded trade and economic exchanges.”

They referred to cross-strait policies implemented during Wen’s tenure as premier from 2003-2013.