I left Taipei for the relatively obscure Cihu, where the Chiang Kai-shek Statue Park is located. It's currently closed for renovations, but I snuck in undeterred and played the oblivious foreigner beautifully for any suspicious workers.
Chiang's Nationalist Party (also known as the Kuomintang) led China until losing the civil war to the communists in 1949. He fled to Taiwan with approximately two million supporters and ruled until his death in 1975. Statues of Chiang were once ubiquitous throughout the island, placed in front of every school and even in some popular shrines. The rules on sculpting him were stringent: standing statues could not be shorter than his height of 170cm.
The removal of some 150 statues to this park beginning in 2000 sparked considerable public debate, akin to our own on the historical memory of controversial figures. Although Chiang's rule was characterised by repression and corruption, he is viewed favourably by many as a bulwark against Japanese imperialism and communism. The transplanting of these statues to a remote park belies the fact that over 1,000 statues of Chiang and his son, who succeeded him, are still publicly displayed. Indeed, the Kuomintang remains one of the two major political parties in democratic Taiwan.
Chiang is also credited with spearheading efforts to modernise the Taiwanese economy. This was adeptly pursued in the wake of the Sino-Soviet split and resultant rapprochement between the US and China. He felt that the wavering American commitment to defend the island could be better deterred through making it indispensable to global supply chains. His agricultural and industrial reforms paved the way for Taiwan's technological dominance, epitomised by TSMC.
It ranks in the world's ten most highly valued companies and accounts for 92% of advanced microchip production. Visiting the TSMC Museum of Innovation this afternoon illustrated the critical importance of these tiny components — and by extension Taiwan — to our everyday lives. The concept of a "silicon shield", which refers to the main material used in the manufacturing process, protecting Taiwan from a Chinese invasion now features prominently in foreign policy circles. Hopefully it will be enough…