In the early hours of Feb. 22, a statue of former President Chiang Kai-shek riding a horse located on the campus of National Chengchi University was vandalized. The collective responsible said the initiator was a National Taiwan University student surnamed Hsu, who wanted to draw society's attention to the issues of transitional justice and the poison left by authoritarianism.
Police officers climb up a ladder to collect evidence. Around 2 a.m. on Feb. 22, a bronze statue of former President Chiang Kai-shek riding a horse located on the campus of National Chengchi University was vandalized. The horse's left foreleg was sawed off. Meanwhile, the right foreleg bore vestiges of an attack with orange paint.
Bronze statues are of course not the only things that need to be removed from campuses. However, right now the only thing we are able to do to get widespread attention is chopping off parts of statues. We wanted to do this before the anniversary of the 228 Incident for maximal attention.
The collective that organized the act of vandalism says it is attacking statues in order to thoroughly remove the poison of authoritarianism from campuses. It also hopes the public can understand the importance of "transitional justice."
I think it's a very simple learning environment. Today, no matter what country we go to, it will have a history. Even though there may be bad parts in the history, I think we should let them go with the flow of history and let things slowly calm down.
This was done to attract attention, but whether this type of method is proper or reasonable can still be discussed.
I think it's a very simple learning environment. Today, no matter what country we go to, it will have a history. Even though there may be bad parts in the history, I think we should let them go with the flow of history and let things slowly calm down.
This was done to attract attention, but whether this type of method is proper or reasonable can still be discussed.
Some students said this act could be discussed and others said it could draw society's attention to this issue. The university said it respects the freedom of speech, although it does not approve of the use of violence to advocate freedom of speech.
School officials do not agree with using this violent and illegal method to advocate freedom of speech. We hope people can use rational, peaceful, and legal methods to express their public affairs demands. The school will formally file a complaint with the police for the crime of damage.
The university originally had two Chiang Kai-shek statues on campus. In 2017, the school affairs committee passed a motion to relocate the statue in the library to Hua Hsing Children's Home, which was accomplished in 2018. The school says it will restore the vandalized statue and it will make decisions on compensation and follow-up measures once the police investigation is completed.
School officials do not agree with using this violent and illegal method to advocate freedom of speech. We hope people can use rational, peaceful, and legal methods to express their public affairs demands. The school will formally file a complaint with the police for the crime of damage.
The university originally had two Chiang Kai-shek statues on campus. In 2017, the school affairs committee passed a motion to relocate the statue in the library to Hua Hsing Children's Home, which was accomplished in 2018. The school says it will restore the vandalized statue and it will make decisions on compensation and follow-up measures once the police investigation is completed.