Taiwan promises to remove hundreds of statues of Chinese dictator

On Monday, the Taiwanese government announced its pledge to remove nearly 800 statues of Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese military leader who ruled the island under martial law for decades in response to a transitional justice committee established in 2018 to investigate the former generalissimo’s regime. This committee recommended the removal of thousands of statues of public spaces.

Speaking before the legislature of Taiwan, Shih Pu, a cabinet official, said the Interior Ministry would move quickly to remove the remaining 760 monuments, in response to criticism that the government was not acting quickly enough. The information is from The Guardian portal.

Taiwan has been the scene of a long debate about the legacy of Chiang, with many statues spread across the island, including the largest one in the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei. Over the years, the government and society have discussed what to do with these representations.

Shih explained that the military was particularly slow to accept subsidies offered as an incentive to remove the statues, citing the need to take military tradition into account. Last week, the Defense Minister had stated that it was a military tradition to honor Chiangconsidering military sites as private property.

Promise after orders

This pledge to remove the remaining statues comes after calls for progress regarding a statue of Chiang in Taipei, which is more than six meters high and is protected by a military police honor guard.

The debate over Chiang’s legacy is largely divided along party lines, with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party advocating a move away from continued tributes, while Chiang’s KMT Party, currently in opposition, accuses them of trying to erase the story.