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EDITORIAL: An affront
to victims of terror
It is difficult to decide which aspect of the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) design
competition, announced earlier this week by the National Chiang Kai-shek (CKS)
Memorial Hall and the Ministry of Culture, is most infuriating: Minister of
Culture Lung Ying-tai’s (龍應台) continued refusal to point to those responsible
for the murder of thousands of Taiwanese under the Generalissimo’s watch, or
that public funds are being spent on this ridiculous project at a time when
society’s most vulnerable are seeing their homes destroyed by the government.
Launched to coincide with the 10th anniversary of former first lady Soong
Mayling’s (宋美齡) death and to honor the “deep love” that the dictator and his
spouse had for each other, the design competition, which comes with a NT$100,000
(US$3,347) prize for the winner, purportedly seeks to promote marital love,
family values and the uniqueness of the nation’s Chinese “heritage.”
No sooner had the contest been announced than its organizers, along with Lung,
came under fire from victims of the White Terror and were ridiculed online.
Just across from the CKS Memorial Hall last week, residents of the Huaguang (華光)
community looked on as bulldozers sent in by the Ministry of the Interior
demolished their homes to make way for a glitzy new leisure area for the rich
and powerful. Since the government cold-heartedly refused to listen to the
residents’ pleas, let alone provide financial assistance to help those who are
not too old to rebuild their lives, the Ministry of Culture is spending untold
amounts of money promoting a design competition to honor a very flawed man who
brought nothing but terror and desolation to Taiwan.
For many Huaguang residents, some of whom make as little as NT$4,000 a month,
NT$100,000 would go a long way. Yet the government does not support them, but is
willing to spend money honoring two dead individuals who this nation is better
off without.
Feeling the backlash, Lung, whose ministry oversees the CKS Memorial Hall, had
little choice but to adopt a critical tone when discussing the competition
yesterday, calling it “frivolous.” However, she still could not bring herself to
admit that Chiang and his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) were the perpetrators
of the 228 Massacre. Despite all the evidence, the testimonials and apologies by
previous KMT administrations, Lung said the incident was “too complex” to
attribute responsibility to the perpetrators.
All of this is occurring under an administration that, in defiance of public
opinion, continues to promote the Sinicization of Taiwanese society. It also
coincides with a move by China to restore the image of Chiang, who for decades
was depicted by the communist regime in Beijing as the devil incarnate.
Apparently, it is not enough that in recent months people in Taiwan have had to
stare at the face of the 20th century’s greatest mass murderer, Mao Zedong
(毛澤東), on television ads and in the windows of financial institutions across the
nation; Taiwanese must also endure their own executioner being depicted as a man
who stood for virtue, love and family values.
Chiang was not the devil incarnate, but he was a ruthless leader who retarded
the nation’s development and caused untold suffering to its people. The
Generalissimo lived through extraordinarily difficult times and had to make
difficult decisions. That being said, he made far too many bad decisions —
decisions that resulted in deaths, disappearances and broken families — to
deserve being honored in such a way.
He is undeniably, for better or worse, a part of the history of this nation, and
as such he deserves to be studied and understood. However, ultimately he is not
a cultural icon to be cherished, but belongs in history books and museums; and
the countless statues erected to honor him should remain in the dark, dusty
corners where they have been banished.
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