Chiang Kai-shek statues

[6]) During the following years of rule, the KMT-led ROC government erected monuments commemorating Nationalist leaders, including statues of Chiang Kai-shek.

[13] In February 2007, the Republic of China government, under the Taiwan independence-minded DPP Chen Shui-bian administration, began to implement the plan to remove the Chiang statues from military premises.

The opposition KMT, on the other hand, resisted the removal of the statues, claiming that the DPP was attempting to cut off Taiwan's Chinese heritage, and distort history.

[15] On March 9, 2007, the KMT revoked Defense Minister Lee Jye's party membership for removing the statues as ordered by the government.

The deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Zhejiang Province, Shao Jiangwei, stated the offer was being considered favorably.

Instead, the 8 m statue was partially reassembled at Cihu by a local artist, Guo Shao-zong, with some missing pieces and unveiled on March 15, 2008.

[25] In response, the Taipei City Government classified the memorial hall (including the statue) as a temporary historical site, which prevented any alteration or damage,[26] and the KMT held a protest to oppose the proposed changes.

In 2017, the Ministry of Culture stated it was drafting a bill to rename the Hall and remove the symbols of authoritarian rule, including the Chiang statue within.

[39] Four were arrested at Fu Jen Catholic University early on February 28, 2017 for attempting to pull down a bronze Chiang statue using an angle grinder.

[42] In March 2015, Tainan removed Chiang statues from fourteen elementary and junior high school campuses and sent them to Daxi at Mayor William Lai's (DPP) direction.

[45] KMT Tainan city councilors criticized the secretive manner in which the Chiang statues were removed, and compared Lai to ISIS for wholesale destruction of cultural artifacts.

[46] The next day, the mayors of Taipei (Ko Wen-je) and Keelung (Lin Yu-chang) demurred on removing their cities' Chiang statues, seeking to avoid confrontation, while the mayor of Taoyuan City (Cheng Wen-tsan) stated the Chiang statues on Taoyuan's school campuses and public offices would be sent to Daxi.