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University to remove Chiang Kai-shek
statue
CROSSED WIRES:An NTU professor said that visiting Chinese
students do not take photos near the statue because they see it as a symbol of
authoritarianism
By Hu Ching-hui / Staff Reporter
After years of discussions and pressure from the Taiwan Association of
University Professors (TAUP), National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) recently
announced it would remove a controversial statue of Chiang Kai-shek (½±¤¶¥Û) from
its front gate.
University archives showed that up until 1977, the site where the statue was
located was occupied by a fountain and that the statue that replaced it was
produced by the university¡¦s Department of Fine Arts.
Following the lifting of Martial Law on July 15, 1987, the university began
discussing the eventual removal or relocation of the statue.
Martial Law was declared in Taiwan during the late stages of the civil war
between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party on
May 15, 1949, at a time when the KMT already controlled Taiwan.
Plans to remove the statue were opposed by faculty members and the move ended up
in limbo.
The issue re-emerged three years ago when the TAUP petitioned school authorities
to request that the statue be removed.
As Taiwan¡¦s leading teacher training facility, the university should remove all
traces of authoritarian idolatry, TAUP said at the time.
¡§Relics of authoritarian rule shouldn¡¦t be placed at the front gates of a
university,¡¨ TAUP president Tai Pao-tsun (À¹Ä_§ø) said.
Former minister of education Tu Cheng-sheng (§ù¥¿³Ó) said that as Chiang was in
large part responsible for the 228 Incident, a KMT crackdown in which as many as
20,000 people in Taiwan were killed, the meaning of education would be lost if
schools presented him as an idol to be worshiped.
After years of debate, the university decided to relocate the statue, possibly
to a special ¡§statue park.¡¨
NTNU professor and school services consultant Wu Wu-tien (§dªZ¨å) said that some
still saw the statue as a symbol of authoritarian rule, adding that this was the
reason visiting Chinese students did not take photos near the university gates.
A Department of Fine Arts student surnamed Chen (³¯) said opposition to the
statue¡¦s removal was waning.
However, some university alumni said they suspected the decision stemmed from
efforts to attract Chinese students, small numbers of whom are expected to start
attending classes in Taiwan in the fall.
NTNU secretary-general Lin An-pan (ªL¦w¨¹) said the decision had no political
significance.
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