Taiwan: Commission wants Chiang Kai-shek removed from currency

[eurocoin]

Take Chiang off cash: commission

Chiang Kai-shek should be removed from Taiwanese banknotes and coins, the Transitional Justice Commission said in its final report as the ministy-level organization prepares to close tomorrow. Chiang's likeness should be removed from coins and notes when the central bank carries out a redesign of the nation's currency, said the report, an official copy of which was handed to Premier Su Tseng-chang by the commission's acting minister Yeh Hung-ling at a ceremony in Taipei on Friday (27 May). Images of Chiang are on NT$1 and NT$5 coins, and NT$200 banknotes.

Citing the findings of two expert panels that the commission organized in 2019, the report said the purpose of currency design is to promote symbols and values that unify the nation and represent it to the outside world. The prominence of Chiang and Sun Yat-sen on money suggests an overemphasis on political leadership and the glorification of "strongmen," which is at odds with democratic norms, it said. Chiang's "dictatorial" reign was responsible for "undermining the democratic constitutional order, utilizing state violence and human rights infringements," it said.

Putting Chiang on coins and banknotes implies that an authoritarian ruler is the nation's unifying symbol and that his regime represents its values, the report said. The government has a legal responsibility to remove authoritarian symbols under the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice, which supersedes the central bank's concerns about costs, it said.

Coins and banknotes bearing Chiang's image should be taken out of circulation and replaced with new designs to be selected via an appropriate process that enables civic participation, the report said. The replacement designs should underscore the nation's cultural distinctiveness, natural landscape and the progressive values of cultural diversity, gender equality and environmentalism, it said. The process should be conducted bearing in mind the need to facilitate societal dialogue and the formation of national identity, it said.

Source: Taipei Times

[eurocoin]

Images of the 2 coins depicting a portrait of Chiang Kai-shek, that are being mentioned in the article:

[Pabitra]

What about image of Sun Yat sen, which appears on TWD 10?

[Figleaf]

The core difference between Taiwan and China is well expressed by the commission's finding. The question is what the government will do with the report. I'll follow this with interest.

Peter

[Pabitra]

People's Republic of China does not put any effigy on its circulation coins.
Taiwan is more influenced by United States of America.

[SquareEarth]

It's been talked about often, but we haven't seen any result yet.

[<k>]

There is a trend to move way from leaders of the recent past in some countries. Kenya, for instance, in recent years dropped Kenyatta, its found father, from its coins and banknotes. Often the founding leaders were somewhat repressive and so that they are not necessarily considered good role models in some ways. However, they governed on different times.

Another factor is the simple desire for change. Fashions change, priorities, coins change, everything changes over time. Nothing lasts forever.