Airport Name to Change?

When in doubt, strike a blow against the regime -- the vanished one, that is. The Chen Administration has proposed doing what it should have done 5 years ago when it first got into office: changing the name of the airport, Chiang Kai-shek International, to Taiwan Taoyuan.

The government wants to change the name of the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport to "Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport," pending approval during next Wednesday's weekly Cabinet meeting.

"It is difficult to change the name, but it is definitely not impossible," President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said.

The president announced the proposed name change at a ceremony at which soldiers received awards for outstanding service ahead of Soldier's Day tomorrow, although his remarks were not directly related to the military.

In addition to promoting the name change, Chen said that the four Kidd-class destroyers which the Navy bought from the US would be given names that are relevant to Taiwan.

"These destroyers should be named after cities in Taiwan," Chen said. "In the past, the navy named its vessels after historical heroes or cities in China."

It's definitely the right move -- but it is simply years too late, and provides fodder for the "look how little Chen can do" criticisms of the current administration. The Taipei Times pointed out the fallacies of the "Mad Chen" thesis:

Some analysts have predicted that Chen will feverishly use the remainder of his term to fortify his legacy, thus potentially destabilizing the region with theatrical actions that would infuriate Beijing.

This danger is grossly overstated. Any meaningful legacy involves fortifying domestic support not for him personally but for the integrity of the nation. There are many things he can do in attempting this, but the pragmatic nature of Taiwanese is such that the extent of his reach is limited by local power structures -- which is exactly why he had to consult with the Taoyuan County commissioner on the renaming of an international facility.

Good move -- but years late. I was talking about the vanished statues of Chiang Kai-shek, which had disappeared when the DPP came to power, with a longtime democracy activist here. When I opined that this was a good thing, it was pointed out to me that with the statues gone, there are no reminders of the past, with its slogans and political cultism, and so it is that much more easily forgotten. The government needs to find a way to hold free itself of the colonial past, in such a way that it can be remembered as a lesson for future generations.

[Taiwan]