Taiwan to withdraw honour guards from Chiang Kai-shek memorial

Reuters: Taiwan will withdraw the military honour guards at the memorial hall for former leader Chiang Kai-shek as part of ongoing efforts to end the "veneration of authoritarianism", the culture ministry said on Friday.

Generally lauded in life as an anti-communist hero, today many in Taiwan revile Chiang as a despot who imprisoned and killed opponents during his rule. Chiang withdrew to the island with his Republic of China government in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's Communists.

When he died in 1975, his son Chiang Ching-kuo took over and began tentative steps towards more political openness.

The elder Chiang's memorial, with its giant bronze statue, dominates central Taipei. The culture ministry said that from Monday the military honour guards will be relocated from their ceremonial duties inside the hall to the square in front of it.

"The Ministry of Culture also takes 'removing the cult of personality' and 'ending veneration of authoritarianism' as the transitional justice goals of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall at this stage," it said in a statement.

Taiwan, which is now a democracy, has a Transitional Justice Commission that is in charge of investigating cases of political persecution that took place during the "white terror" campaign against dissent of Chiang's rule.

Martial law only ended in Taiwan in 1987 with the first direct presidential election held in 1996.

Taiwan has in recent years gradually reduced Chiang's public footprint, including in 2006 when it renamed the island's main international airport from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to Taoyuan International Airport.