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Goodbye Chiang Kai-shek, says Taiwan in bid to rewrite history BY GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN in Taipei 1 July 2007, The Sunday Telegraph
THE TOUR guide was seething. "Chiang Kai-shek was a psychopathic dictator,'' she shouted, glaring at the woman in the gift shop of what used to be the main memorial to Taiwan's former leader. "Nonsense,'' the shopkeeper snapped back. "He was a great historical figure, a great man.'' Some 32 years after his death, the man who became synonymous with the island's split with mainland China has been thrust back into the political spotlight, as Taiwan's two main political parties seek an issue to galvanise public opinion before presidential elections next year. To the opposition nationalist Kuomintang party, whose original members Chiang led to Taiwan after they were driven from the mainland in 1949 by Mao Tse-tung's communists, he remains a symbol of eventual reunification. To the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which draws much of its support from the indigenous Taiwanese population and favours formal independence, he was a brutal dictator who spent his 25 years at the helm engaged in a reign of terror. Despite their differences both sides' presidential candidates, favour closer ties with Beijing. So, in an attempt to seize the initiative, and to the fury of the nationalists, the government has hit on the idea of writing Chiang out of history. Nowhere is the debate more polarised than at the blue-roofed pagoda in the centre of the capital, Taipei, that was until a month ago the centrepiece of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park. Now it is the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, festooned in scaffolding as workmen set about removing every mention of Chiang's name. Inside, it is packed with Chiang memorabilia, including his bullet- proof limousines and a re-creation of his office, with a mannequin of the old leader seated at his desk. But now there is a rival exhibition in the main hall, featuring films of old military parades, the shackles worn by prisoners and an array of propaganda leaflets and previously banned texts - all topped off with large banners that read "Bye-bye Chiang Kai-shek!''. DPP supporters in green tabards, the party's colour, hand out leaflets detailing the restrictions imposed during Chiang's rule, from the diktats on hair length (short), to the banning of the Taiwanese language, and claims about his spy network. Last week one of the new guides, Ting Le-chin, eagerly pointed out Chiang's well-documented human rights abuses to visitors. "Chiang Kai-shek was not a hero, he was a killer,'' she said. But in the hall's gift shop, Wu Shu Hui, watched angrily. Since the name change, she said, business had slumped. The mainland Chinese who had flocked to the hall to learn more about Chiang - who, ironically, is regarded by some of them as a symbol of unification between the two countries - had stopped coming. "People should move forward and not drag things up,'' she said. "This is a tourist spot and we shouldn't be showing people our bad history.'' Hearing Miss Ting, she snapped crossly at her. "Stop being so emotional. Leave people alone.'' Her opponent leant over the counter. "Emotional?'' she demanded. "He killed so many innocent Taiwanese people.'' These are difficult days for Taiwan as it struggles to maintain its dwindling pool of international supporters. Chiang ruled mainland China until he and his Kuomintang government were driven out by the communists in 1949. Since the split, Beijing has insisted that Taiwan is still part of China, and has warned Taipei that any attempt to declare full independence will result in military action. Despite regular sabre-rattling, economic ties between the two are becoming closer. Now China hopes, against the odds, that Taiwan will be encouraged by the example of Hong Kong, which celebrates 10 years of Chinese rule this weekend, to return to the fold. China refuses to have diplomatic relations with any nation that recognises Taiwan. The UN switched its recognition in 1971 and earlier this month Costa Rica severed its ties with Taiwan. It is recognised by a group of 24 nations, with the Vatican as Europe's sole representative. It is against this background that the battle over Chiang's memory is being fought. The parties would like to portray it as symbolic of the future direction of the country, but the population appears less convinced. The highlight of any visit to the old memorial hall used to be the changing of the guard but the area is now taped off from the public. Tourists hoping to pay their respects to the former leader must drive to the Chiang Kai-shek Culture Park at Tashi, where the government has dumped dozens of statues of Chiang removed from public buildings. Most of the tourists wandering through its lush grounds last week appeared perplexed by the political row that has blown up over his memory. "He was a dictator but he helped Taiwan develop a lot. It is not just good and bad, there is a lot of grey,'' said one woman, Hung Liu Wen. Chiang's body lies in a mausoleum that was once his summer house. A sign inside instructs visitors to bow to his picture, which most do. The young man keeping watch on the tomb was outraged at the suggestion that the man inside should have his place in history demoted. "The government is looking for some issue they can make a stance on at the elections,'' he said. Political observers agree. Andrew Nien-Dzu Yang, from the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies think-tank, said Chiang was becoming less important in people's lives. Students were taught that he was an authoritarian who damaged Taiwan, while the older generation, who remembered when the stand-off with China was more fraught, believed he had done much to make the country the economic success it is today. "The ruling party is over-emphasising the bad side of Chiang Kai-shek,'' he said. "But in an election year the shortcut to political success is to generate emotions.''
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