Veterans Affairs Council Minister Feng Shih-kuan says he is strongly opposed to removing statues of former President Chiang Kai-shek from places under the council’s charge. Feng, a former air force general and defense minister, was speaking Thursday at the Legislature.
Chiang was in power from 1950 to 1975. His years in charge were years of authoritarianism and human rights abuses, and there have been moves in recent years to remove statues of the late president across Taiwan.
The Veteran Affairs Council came under fire in a recent Transitional Justice Commission report because the council has only removed one of the 66 Chiang statues on land that belongs to it.
Feng told lawmakers that as a political appointee, he can’t say no to the government’s policy of removing Chiang statues. However, he said many of Chiang’s statues are historical relics, which shouldn’t be removed at a whim.
Feng also said that Chiang’s contributions to Taiwan have not been taken into account in the drive to take down his statues.