An affront to victims of terror

At CKS Hall on 2-28

Chiang Kai-shek is not a cultural icon to be cherished. He belongs in history books and museums 

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. 

My unsigned editorial, published today in the Taipei Times, continues here.