GREEN-BLUE CONFLICT:Hsu Yung-ming rejected calls for the hall to be torn down, saying that transitioning the content could help create a consensus for further change
Taipei Times
Date: Jul 10, 2016
By Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
Taipei’s Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall should be transformed into a
Chinese tourists visit the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on Jan. 15, 2016. Photo: AP
research center and museum for all of the nation’s presidents, New Power Party (NPP) caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said yesterday, adding that the memorial’s name could be temporarily preserved alongside the statue of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
“Having a memorial dedicated to this one leader isn’t appropriate because we don’t have any other similar memorials. It would be better to start dedicating the site to all former presidents and transition content to remove all traces of the authoritarian tradition of reverence to Chiang Kai-shek,” Hsu said, adding that he had already submitted an amendment to the Organization Act of National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Management Office (國立中正紀念堂管理處組織法), which the legislature’s Procedure Committee is expected to address on Tuesday.
The amendment would expand the memorial’s mandate to include the preservation and exhibition of artifacts from all of the nation’s former presidents, along with research into the nation’s democratization process. [FULL STORY]
