Jump to content

Draft:2014 Tainan vandalism of Sun Yat-sen statue

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sun Yat-sen bronze statue vandalism incident in Tainan
The bronze statue of Sun Yat-Sen and Tsay Ting-Kuei after being pulled down. The bronze statue of Sun Wen was spray-painted with the words "ROC OUT" and other words.
DateFebruary 22, 2014 (2014-02-22)
Time13:30 TST (05:30 UTC)
Location Republic of China (Taiwan)
Tainan West Central District(Taiwan) Tang Te-chang Memorial Park
ParticipantsTsay Ting-Kuei
Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and Taiwan Independence Team member
OutcomeBronze statue of Sun Yat-sen flipped in mid-air and then fell to the ground and was damaged

The Sun Yat-sen bronze statue vandalism incident in Tainan occurred at 1:30 pm on February 22, 2014 at Tang Te-chang Memorial Park in Taiwan Tainan City. In this incident , members of Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and Taiwan Independent National Flag Team The rope pulled down the bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen, and subsequently triggered a series of questions about Taiwan status, National identity, White Terror (Taiwan), Transitional Justice and Cultural heritage.

This is also the first time that Sun Yat-sen's monuments have been vandalized since Taiwan entered the rule of the Republic of China after the end of World War II. [1]

Period

[edit]

In early 2013, the bronze statue of Sun Yat-Sen was donated byTainan First Lions Clubpleads with Tainan City Government ，It is believed that the bronze statue has been erected for a long time and is in danger of being broken or collapsed. In order to avoid harming pedestrians, it is hoped that the city government will help relocate the bronze statue of Sun Yat-Sen. Then Democratic Progressive Party Mayor Lai Ching-te said that the city government would discuss and formulateTang Te-chang Memorial Day ，And assisted in the relocation of the bronze statue of Sun Wen.[2]But it was opposed by the Kuomintang.The Kuomintang personnel immediately set up camp at the bronze statue to protect the bronze statue of Sun Yat-Sen, and launched a campaign to save the statue by donating NT$10 per person. On September 2, 2013, former Tainan City Mayor Chang Tsan-hung from the Democratic Progressive Party said, "Sun Yat-Sen is not an authoritarian ruler, there is no controversy, and there is no need to oppose it." He suggested that the status be maintained after resolving the safety issue of Sun Wen's bronze statue; He said that if the bronze statue of Sun Yat-Sen was controversial, it would have been demolished when he was mayor and there was no need to keep it until now.[3]Tainan City Government suspends relocation plan.[4]

Process

[edit]

On February 22, 2014, about 150 members of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and the Taiwan Independence Team drove to the Tang Te-chang Memorial Park in Tainan City. Several people worked together to pull down the neck of the bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen. Members of the Taiwan Alliance formed a human wall to protect Tsay Ting-Kuei and prevent the fire police from investigating.[5][6][7]

Later, the prosecutor investigated the fallen bronze statue and found that the bronze statue was broken at the calf and the cracks were quite neat. Therefore, it may have been cut with tools and then pulled down with ropes.[8]

Follow-up

[edit]

After the incident, the officials immediately blocked the Tang Te-Chang Memorial Park, set up a ''Cheval de frise'' at the entrance of the park, deployed a large number of police forces, arrested Tsay Ting-Kuei and transferred him to the Tainan District Prosecutors Office. At around 3 pm on February 22, 2014, some demonstrators attempted to rush into the park, but were blocked by a human wall formed by more than a hundred police officers. During the process, a conflict broke out between the two parties.[9] Finally, the police dispersed the demonstration team in accordance with the "Assembly and Procession Law" and the demonstrators dispersed.

The next day, the Kuomintang mobilized the masses to the park to protest against the pulling down of the bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen. Among them, City Councilor Hsieh Lung-chieh, Lin Yan-zhu and others claimed that the police used violence against them. Li Zheng-xiao, director of the City Police Second Branch, said that everything is done in accordance with the law.[10]At the same time, some people from the Taiwan Solidarity Union, Taiwan Teachers Union, and Democratic Progressive Party also organized the masses to support Tsay Ting-Kuei .Members of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan went to Wushantou Dam to pay homage to the Japanese engineer Yoichi Hatta who designed and supervised the construction of the reservoir. Since there is a bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek in the Wushantou Dam, the police deployed police forces to prevent it from being damaged, and members of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan did not pull down the statue.

In June of the same year, the Tainan District Prosecutors Office prosecuted eight people including Tsay Ting-Kuei for violating Articles 160 and 354 of Criminal Law [11].

On August 16 of the same year, the second stop of the 120th Anniversary Party Celebration Tour Exhibition of the Chinese Kuomintang was opened in Dalin Xincheng, Tainan City. The Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the Kuomintang, Tseng Yung-chuan, said in his speech at the opening ceremony that the exhibition was held in Tainan City a few days ago. After the incident of maliciously knocking down the bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen, the Kuomintang chose to hold a touring exhibition in Tainan City in order to bring order to the chaos and restore to all walks of life the history of the Kuomintang's revolutionary founding of the country, construction of Taiwan, and promotion of democracy; He said that without the leadership of Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang's implementation of the "Three Principles of the People" to run Taiwan, there would be no freedom, democracy and prosperity under the rule of the Republic of China.[12].

The bronze statue was once stored in the fire brigade[13]，It was later restored and temporarily preserved by the [[Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tainan City Government]]；December 7, 2015, Sun Yat-sen’s granddaughter Dr. Lily Sun expressed her wish to re-erect the bronze statue, but received no response.[14]

On February 15, 2017, the Tainan City Government completely demolished the remaining base of Tang Te-chang Memorial Park in order to restore its original appearance and depoliticize it.[15]

Reaction

[edit]
  • Tainan City Government stated that whether it is occupying the park to prevent the demolition of the bronze statue, or simply pulling down the bronze statue to destroy public property, the city government does not agree with it and will definitely deal with it in accordance with the law. When the police arrived at the scene, the bronze statue had been destroyed and they would not stand idly by. situation; and the relevant bureaus of the city government have also moved and preserved the bronze statue as soon as possible to avoid further damage and avoid rising antagonism; the city government calls on all walks of life to calm down and refrain from political manipulation.[16].
  • Former Mayor of Tainan CityChang Tsan-hungcall on the Kuomintang and Democratic Progressive Party sides to stop confrontation[17].
  • Chinese Unification Promotion Party president Chang An-lo condemned the vandalism and asked Lai Qingde to restore the statue to its original location within two weeks[18].
  • Tainan City Councilor of the Kuomintang and Chairman of the Tainan City Party Committee Hsieh Lung-chieh accused the police of improper handling and serious negligence.
  • Lee Teng-hui Democratic AssociationchairmanWang Shou-guosaid，The city government should take advantage of the situation and demolish the dangerous base together, and give the entire Tang Te-Chang Memorial Park a pure space [19].
  • Cultural Communication Committee of the Central Committee of the Kuomintangissued a press release condemning the vandalism of the bronze statue and expressing regret that the Tainan City Government was unable to properly maintain the monuments and protect cultural assets.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ The first collapse occurred on September 11, 2007, when the statue of Sun Wen in the central fountain in Chiayi City collapsed. However, this time the statue was severely weathered and could no longer support the statue and collapsed naturally. 〈中部〉嘉市中央噴水池 孫中山銅像倒塌 Archived 2019-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ 《孫文銅像移置》台南市府將研訂 湯德章紀念日 Archived 2014-02-28 at the Wayback Machine，《自由時報》，2013年3月1日
  3. ^ 姚正玉 (2013-09-03). "〈獨派張燦鍙挺國父銅像〉". 《中華日報》.
  4. ^ "台南孙中山铜像被拉倒(图)". News.163.com. Archived from the original on 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  5. ^ "台南孙中山铜像遭拉倒 国民党议员痛斥独派". Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  6. ^ "孙中山铜像被拉倒 台湾蓝营谴责绿营". Ctcnew.com. Archived from the original on 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  7. ^ "破坏孙中山铜像反映民进党转型困境". Archived from the original on 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  8. ^ 葉進耀 (2014-02-28). "〈檢警：銅像疑先被工具切割再拉倒〉". 《中華日報》. p. B1.
  9. ^ 扳倒孙中山铜像 蔡丁贵讯后请回 Archived 2016-10-16 at the Wayback Machine，民視新聞，2014年2月22日
  10. ^ "国民党抗议孙中山铜像被拉倒 与警察爆冲突(图)". News.163.com. Archived from the original on 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  11. ^ 南檢偵辦銅像遭毀損案新聞稿 Archived 2019-12-04 at the Wayback Machine，臺灣臺南地方法院檢察署，2014年6月11日
  12. ^ 新聞稿 (2014-08-16). "黨慶巡迴展還原歷史 重新呈現國民黨對臺貢獻". 中國國民黨文化傳播委員會. Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
  13. ^ 劉榮輝 (2014-03-04). "【更新】南檢勘驗孫文銅像 鎖定涉案26人". 蘋果日報 (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2014-11-25.
  14. ^ 曹馥年 (2015-12-08). "國父孫女：盼恢復湯德章公園國父銅像". 聯合報. Archived from the original on 2015-12-09. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  15. ^ 蔡文居 (2017-02-17). "大正公園孫文銅像基座拆除 市府不再立政治圖騰". 自由時報. Archived from the original on 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  16. ^ 針對湯德章紀念公園本日銅像爭議事件各界相關發言，市府今(24)日回應 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine，臺南市政府，2014年2月24日
  17. ^ "独派大佬现身挺孙中山铜像 呼吁蓝绿停止内耗". News.ifeng.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  18. ^ "张安乐赴公园向孙中山致敬 要赖清德恢复铜像". News.sina.com.cn. 2014-02-24. Archived from the original on 2019-09-09. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  19. ^ "台"独派"称中华民国是外来政权 将继续拉铜像". News.sina.com.cn. 2014-02-24. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:2014_Tainan_vandalism_of_Sun_Yat-sen_statue&oldid=1261133365"