Chiang Kai-shek statue to lose honor guard from July 15

Taipei, July 12 (CNA) A military honor guard stationed in front of the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正) statue in the eponymous memorial hall in Taipei will be removed starting July 15, the Ministry of Culture announced Friday.

According to the ministry, the move marks the first stage of removing "personal and authoritarian worship" and achieving transitional justice at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, a national monument built in memory of Chiang Kai-shek, the first president of the Republic of China (ROC) after the implementation of the Constitution.

The ROC Honor Guard, comprising troops from the Army, Navy and Air Force, will no longer be required to stand at attention for the statue, the ministry said in a press release.

Troops will still perform a handover ceremony every hour between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. However, the 15-minute performance will now take place on Democracy Boulevard, the 40 meter-wide, 380 meter-long avenue paved with stone slabs in front of the hall.

During the handover, the brigades will each depart from the northeast and southwest gates of the main hall, converging on the boulevard, the ministry said.

Separately, the guards will continue to perform flag-raising and lowering duties at the hall at 6 a.m. and 6:10 p.m. to ensure solemnity, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press release.

The honor guard has been in place at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei since its opening in 1980.