TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 29 (UPI) -- Taiwan's government is gearing up for a protest by opposition Kuomintang to stop a plan to remove the walls surrounding the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
The protest by KMT in honor of its revered leader is set for Saturday, but ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers said Thursday they will consider mobilizing supporters to pull down the walls themselves, reports the Central News Agency.
One ruling lawmaker said his party must reckon with what he described as crimes by Chiang Kai-shek, especially the deaths of some 20,000 Taiwanese elite in the 228 massacre of 1947. The massacre refers to the day of the incident on Feb. 28, 1947, when an uprising was suppressed by the Kuomintang government, resulting in the deaths of thousands.
"Why can the walls of the CKS Memorial not be torn down?" the lawmaker asked, comparing them to the now demolished Berlin Wall.
Another ruling lawmaker claimed the planned protest has been initiated by KMT Legislator John Chiang, a grandson of the late president. The lawmaker said the protest will only worsen ethnic tensions in the country, the news agency reported.
