Removal of Statue from CKS Hall Should Be in "Irretrievable" Way: TJC 中正紀念堂銅像不可回復性處置說 促轉會惹議

Kuomintang lawmaker Wu Sz-huai criticized Transitional Justice Commission as spreading hatred after its Acting Chair Yeh Hung-lin said the statue of Chiang Kai-shek should be dealt with in some "irretrievable" way.

On the 14th, the acting chair of the Transitional Justice Commission said the statue of Chiang Kai-shek should be removed from Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall or "irretrievably" installed somewhere else so that it can't be put back by another political party once it is removed by the current administration. In response, Kuomintang lawmaker Wu Sz-huai blasted the commission for its hatred and enmity. He also called on the Democratic Progressive Party to stick to a single, uniform set of standards.

Wu Sz-huai, Legislator (KMT): “Why don't you change all their names to "Authoritarian Reflection Road"? How about "Authoritarian Reflection Elementary School"? I'll fully support you if you dare. ”
Yeh Hung-ling, Acting Chair, Transitional Justice Commission: “Your commission was formed to spread hatred and enmity. We want the restore the truth. If you're just going to stand there spouting labels, you're just wasting our time.”

Wu also said the DPP can't just "restore" its own skewed version of history and blatantly ignore Chiang Kai-shek's contributions to the nation. He also said the DPP will not be able to remove Chiang's statue without opposition. Yeh later backed down, saying the idea of an "irretrievable" installation would be a permanently and irretrievably making the statue an educational exhibition somewhere.

Cheng Li-wun, Legislator (KMT): “So what you're saying is you're worried someone will put the statue back later on, is that right? ”
Yeh Hung-ling, Acting Chair, Transitional Justice Commission: “We recommend removing the statue of course, but when I said "irretrievable" I was talking about those exhibition-related and educational methods permanent installations. This has nothing to do with the statue.”

Yeh also admitted she has no idea how much it would cost to remove the statue and said the commission has not run any numbers yet. The commission says it has already removed 1,500-plus or 27 percent of "authoritarian" symbols around Taiwan and it will continue coordinating with the central government on removals.

中正紀念堂如何轉型，促轉會14日舉辦座談會，代理主委葉虹靈表示中正紀念堂裡的蔣介石銅像應該移除，或做「不可回復性」的處置，否則可能因為政黨輪替或不同主政者而恢復，這項說法也引起討論，國民黨立委吳斯懷則表示不滿，批評促轉會是「仇恨會」，要改就請民進黨統一標準。

國民黨立委吳斯懷表示:「要就全部通通改成反省威權路、反省威權國小，如果你們有本事做這個事我全力支持。」葉虹靈回應:「你們是對立仇恨，我們希望還原真相，委員這樣子貼標籤沒有辦法討論。」

吳斯懷激烈辯論，認為不能只還原民進黨認為的歷史真相，更把蔣中正的貢獻與八田與一類比，直呼拆銅像將引起對立，而葉虹靈則澄清，所謂「不可回復性」處置，是指如果銅像要保留作為教育跟展示之用，希望教育跟展示的做法，是具不可回復性的。

國民黨立委鄭麗文質詢表示:「所以你現在是擔心未來有人會回復對不對。」對此，葉虹靈解釋:「我們當然是建議銅像要移除，但是我講的不可回復性是針對那些展覽教育的手法，應該要被常設性的放置，跟銅像是兩回事。」

如果要移除中正紀念堂的蔣介石銅像經費需要多少，葉虹靈表示目前促轉會還沒有評估，至於全台威權象徵撤除進度，促轉會表示全台1500多座，處理了27%，未來會繼續跟各部會、中央地方協調。