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Chiang statues become targets as Taiwan confronts history

– Statue graveyard –

Chiang’s public profile was steadily eroded under the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from 2000-2008, with statues removed and street names changed.

Traditionally Beijing-sceptic and pro-independence, the DPP changed the name of the island’s main airport from Chiang Kai-shek to Taoyuan, dropped his memorial day as an official holiday, and scrapped his image from bank notes.

Schools were asked to stop singing songs portraying him as a “national saviour” and “great world leader”.

But some iconography survived.

In March this year, the DPP mayor of the southern city of Tainan, William Lai, ordered the removal of Chiang statues from 16 schools.

“Chiang’s statues have political implications and are very controversial. They should be removed,” Lai said.

They were sent to a museum in the northern city of Taoyuan which also houses Chiang’s mausoleum.

In recent years it has become a graveyard of unwanted Chiang icons, with 218 statues currently on display. Officials there expect numbers to rise as more are discarded.

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Three presidents, including current leader Ma, have apologised to the families of the 1947 massacre victims. They were given compensation after a government investigation said that Chiang “should bear the biggest responsibility” for the incident.

Yet bitterness remains.

“The transition of justice has not been completed,” Taipei-based rights lawyer Lai Chung-chiang told AFP.

“Despite a democracy, the remnants of the authoritarian ruling, like Chiang’s statues, still stand.”

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