TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 21 (UPI) -- A political uproar has been sparked in Taipei by the mayor's decision to have a statue of former dictator Chiang Kai-shek dismantled and moved.
The dispute is between Chinese nationalists and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, the Taipei Times reported Wednesday.
Chen told reporters on Tuesday she took full responsibility for ordering the 26-foot statue of Chiang sitting in an armchair moved last week to Chiang Kai-shek Statue Park outside of the city where Chiang's mausoleum is located.
In response to the criticism, Chen announced special meetings Monday and Tuesday during which she said she would explain her decision to remove the statue from outside Taipei's cultural center, the Times said.
Chiang led the national government of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1975, and died in Taipei on April 5, 1975.
