In a speech to mark the unveiling of the hall's new name, President Chen Shui-bian said that renaming the landmark was to bid goodbye to Taiwan's authoritarian past. The date for the unveiling ceremony was chosen, Chen explained, because "exactly 58 years ago on May 19, the Kuomintang regime officially declared martial law in Taiwan, which lasted 38 years."
Chen said a large pro-democracy demonstration initiated by university students in March 1990, along with numerous cultural and recreational activities held in recent years, took place in the square fronting the hall, which changed the "temple in worship of a dictator" into a place for democracy belonging to all citizens. Therefore, he claimed, the new name was to commemorate Taiwan's democratization.
The unveiling ceremony took place May 19 at the memorial hall, with government officials in attendance. Supporters and opponents of the name change also congregated, with scattered brawls reported to have happened in the square and around the wall bordering the complex.
Officials of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party applauded the name change, the Liberty Times reported May 20. Vice President Lu Hsiu-lien said that the renaming was part of the government's efforts in pursuing transitional justice. She added, however, that the administration should reconsider if the renaming procedure was flawed.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, a KMT member, accused the re-designation of being "illegal," according to a May 19 press release by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs. Hau, along with his cultural and legal staff, called a press conference May 19 after the name-plaque unveiling. He claimed that the name change was made before the legislative procedure was completed to have the Organization Statute of CKS Memorial Hall Management Office amended or abolished to validate the establishment of National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall.
Hau's allegations referred to a resolution that the Ministry of Education, which supervised the hall, and related government agencies reached in early March to demote CKS Memorial Hall in the administrative system. The demotion, approved by the Cabinet in April, allowed the name of the building to be changed by executive order without approval from the Legislative Yuan.
Hau further claimed that even after the Legislature approved to have the old organization name abolished, the plan to install new name plaques still had to be evaluated by the heritage review committee convened by the city government, in accordance with the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act.
In an attempt to prevent the memorial hall complex from being altered, the city government had cited the preservation act and designated the memorial hall and its bordering wall a "temporary heritage site" March 6. The act requires that upon designation, local authorities call a review committee to assess the historic value of a temporary heritage site and protect it from being altered or damaged in any way.
Lee Yong-ping, chief of the city's cultural department, also found fault with the MOE, citing Article 30 of the act, which states that "blocking the view of the heritage site" was an offense. Anyone who violated the rule could be fined up to US$15,000, she said in the press release. Lee was referring to the unveiling ceremony, during which two large cloth banners bearing white lilies, a symbol of the 1990 student movement, hung on the two sides of the hall. The department demanded the hall's management take down the banners or face fines.
In related news, activists of the Losheng Youth Alliance criticized the Taipei mayor for applying double standards regarding preservation of cultural heritage. The group said that while he used every possible article in the law books to protect the memorial hall, Hau turned a blind eye to how the city government's subordinate agency, the Department of Rapid Transit Systems, boycotted inter-agency discussions on how to preserve as much of the Losheng Sanatorium as possible.
The sanatorium had been designated a temporary heritage site but failed to receive permanent status due to inaction by government officials. In response to public outcry over a plan to demolish the sanatorium for an extension of the MRT system, the central government promised to try to maintain the complex.
The alliance members and Losheng patients staged a protest in front of City Hall May 22 to call on Hau to face the contradiction in the city government's cultural heritage policy.
Write to June Tsai at june@mail.gio.gov.tw