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TAIPEI: Taiwan police said Sunday they have launched
a probe into the cause of a fire that gutted a villa of former
Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, amid claims of a campaign to
wipe out his legacy.
Forensic experts combed the
remains of the chateau on scenic Yangming Mountain for clues to
Saturday’s early morning fire but declined to say whether they
suspected arson.
However Chiang’s grandson and
opposition legislator, John Chiang, said he “highly suspected”
the fire was deliberately lit, although he was no evidence.
The incident comes amid
opposition claims that the pro-independence government of the
Democratic Progressive Party is attempting to remove the legacy of
Chiang and his son who ruled Taiwan from 1949 to 1988.
The leading opposition Kuomintang
favors friendly ties with China, which considers Taiwan part of its
territory awaiting reunification, despite their split in 1949 at the
end of a civil war.
The destroyed wooden villa, built
in 1920, was Chiang’s first official residence in Taiwan after he
fled mainland China at the end of the war.
The house was refurbished in
1998.
Separately, another Chiang
residence in Tahsi in Taoyuan county was sprayed with protest
slogans Saturday that read: “Culprit of February 28 Incident.”
As part of the alleged campaign
to remove Chiang’s legacy, President Chen Shui-bian has announced
plans to rename his memorial hall.
Hundreds of Chiang’s statues
were also removed from all military premises early this year. A
seated statue of Chiang, the largest of its kind here, was recently
dismembered and removed from a cultural centre in southern Kaohsiung.
 --AFP
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