Taiwan's government has held its last Chiang Kai-shek honour guard ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, as part of its ongoing efforts to erase the legacy of the late Kuomintang chief and address Taiwan's historical ties to mainland China. The ceremony, which had been held since 1980, has been relocated outside the memorial hall, symbolizing a shift away from the cult of personality and authoritarianism associated with Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang ruled Taiwan for nearly three decades and is remembered by many members of the military as the spiritual leader of Taiwan's armed forces. The decision to move the ceremony is seen as a significant step towards promoting transitional justice and reevaluating Taiwan's historical figures and symbols in the context of its evolving identity and relationship with China. The government of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has set up a transitional justice commission to investigate Chiang's rule and has proposed removing thousands of Chiang statues across Taiwan. While the military has resisted the move, claiming that the statues are their property, Taiwan's new leader, William Lai Ching-te, has pressed ahead with the plan to remove the statues, as they are seen as a reminder of Taiwan's authoritarian past and its historical ties with mainland China, which go against the DPP's political stance [24580fa2] [25a4460c] [a174a992].
Tributes that were removed from public spaces after the end of Chiang Kai-shek’s brutal rule in 1975 now crowd a site west of Taipei. The statues of the late dictator Chiang Kai-shek, which were removed from public spaces in Taiwan after the end of his rule in 1975, now fill a park west of Taipei. The fate of these statues has become a contentious issue, with some calling for their removal while others argue for their preservation as historical artifacts. The park has become a site of controversy and debate, with ongoing discussions about the statues' significance and whether they should be relocated or destroyed. The row over the fate of the statues reflects the complex and contentious history of Chiang Kai-shek's rule in Taiwan [0440a292] [c62106cf].
Taiwanese honour guards will no longer perform changing of the guard ceremonies around a giant statue of the island’s first president, Chiang Kai-shek, as part of a national effort to stop “worshipping authoritarianism”. The elaborate military performance will be moved outdoors to Taipei’s Democracy Boulevard, close to the capital’s iconic blue and white memorial hall dedicated to Chiang. Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture stated that the goal is to promote transitional justice by eliminating the worship of a cult of personality and authoritarianism. Chiang Kai-shek, who fled from mainland China to Taiwan in 1949, is seen by many in modern Taiwan as a despot who imprisoned and killed thousands of opponents during his rule. The country’s Transitional Justice Commission is investigating cases of political persecution that took place during Chiang’s rule. Taiwan has been reducing Chiang’s posthumous profile in recent years, removing hundreds of statues of him and changing the name of the main international airport from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to Taoyuan International Airport. Families of victims of a 1947 massacre have long demanded the removal of Chiang’s statue in the Taipei memorial hall [c62106cf].