《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Chang Hwa plan to relocate Taipei bank condemned

PHILISTINE? If Ko Wen-je does not act it would ‘substantiate criticism against the mayor that he is ignorant of culture and history,’ an expert said

By Yang Yuan-ting, Yu Pei-ju and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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Chang Hwa Bank’s （CHB, 彰化銀行） plan to rebuild its Taipei branch — a historically significant site where the protest before the 228 Massacre occurred, and the setting of an iconic New York Times photograph for its renowned story on the incident — sparked outrage from academics and commentators on Monday, who said the renovation would damage a historic landmark.

On Feb. 27, 1947, the site of the CHB Taipei branch building housed an office of what was then the Taiwan Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau and was the site of a protest against the shooting of a bystander by a bureau agent during a tobacco vendor’s arrest, which spiraled into a nationwide uprising.

The Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） government responded by ordering a military crackdown on Feb. 28 that left tens of thousands dead. Later known as the 228 Incident, the massacre marked the beginning of the White Terror era and led to nearly four decades of martial law.

Citing a need for “asset revitalization,” CHB, which acquired the property in 1951, on Friday announced an open bid to rebuild the site into a 13-story commercial building, 11 floors of which is to become office space.

Ling Tzung-kuei （凌宗魁）, a cultural heritage expert who filed the original application that made the building a heritage site, said that if Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲） failed to act, it would “substantiate criticism against the mayor that he is ignorant of culture and history.”

“How could the building remain a cultural heritage site after such extensive rebuilding?” former representative to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey （謝志偉） asked.

“The rebuilding of an important site to the history of the 228 Incident reflects the sad fact that education in Taiwanese history and heritage had been under attack by the KMT government for decades,” Shieh said, adding that such actions compared poorly to Germany’s preservation of historical sites in Berlin that were relevant to the persecution of Jews during the Nazi era.

“It is pitiful that after more than half a century of history has passed, not only are we still waiting for transitional justice, but the site will also be gone without even serving as a historical footnote,” he said.

Shieh said the Taipei City Government and the central government have a responsibility to preserve history.

“If President Ma Ying-jeou （馬英九） wants to earn a little bit of goodwill from the public in the final days of his caretaker administration, he should order the Ministry of Culture to do something and fast,” Shieh said.

The Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs said that because the interiors of the building had already been renovated in 2012, or the year of the heritage site application, the only areas under protection are the building’s facade and covered walkway, adding that the renovation proposal was approved in April last year after three years of deliberation.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES