Taiwan agency proposes removal of giant Chiang Kai-shek statue

The giant statue of Chiang sitting on a chair is the centrepiece of a huge square in Taipei dedicated to the late generalissimo, similar to Washington's Lincoln Memorial.

TAIPEI (AFP): A government agency tasked with addressing the trauma of Taiwan's authoritarian past said Wednesday (Sept 8) it backed the removal of a giant statue of former president Chiang Kai-shek, who oversaw decades of brutal martial law.

The fate of a 6.3-metre (21-foot) bronze statue of Chiang has long been the subject of fierce, emotional and polarising debate in Taiwan, which evolved from a dictatorship into one of Asia's most progressive democracies.