Talk:Renaming of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

A fact from Renaming of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 5 April 2008, and was viewed approximately 1,745 times (disclaimer) (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-pin refused to update signage at nearby bus and metro stops to reflect the disputed renaming of the "Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall" (pictured) to "National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall"?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2008/April.

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Can someone explain this sentence?

"...and that the localization of Taiwan's place names and symbols represented a treacherous effort to desinicize the island's culture."

I have a hard time understanding what this means -- specifically, "localization". How does removing Chiang's name desinicize the island? What does "localization" mean in this context? --Jfruh (talk) 02:27, 5 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Chiang was a Chinese leader, not a Taiwanese leader. Removing his name removes one of the reminders of Chinese colonization and helps take focuas a way from China.Readin (talk) 13:23, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm... colonisation? Did the US colonise California? --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 14:11, 17 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Restoration

As i said i the CKS Memorial Hall article's discussion page, the sources cited to say Ma will restore the name do not say that. I can recall a couple of weeks ago when the Taiwanese media asked Ma about this, he replied that he would act according to the will of the people (and therefore he avoided the question and didn't promise a restoration).

I would suggest that we remove this paragraph as it is about speculation, which hasn't been confirmed either way.--Pyl (talk) 15:48, 10 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I just noticed that footnote 39 actually points to a Chinese website which contains an interview with Ma, and this interview supported what I said earlier. The relevant paragraph is as follows:-

"他表示，未來會廣泛徵求社會共識，再依照法定程序處理。如果大家認為叫「自由廣場」比「大中至正」好，或是「台灣民主紀念館」比「中正紀念堂」好，他就會讓這名稱留下來，不會刻意改回去。 "

My translation is as follows:-

He expressed that, in the future he would ask for a broad social consensus, then act according to legal procedures. If people think it is better to be called "Liberty Square" than "Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness" or "Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" than "CKS Memorial Hall", then he will keep the names. He will not just simply change the names back.--Pyl (talk) 16:02, 10 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, if you look through references 2 and 39, you will see that Ma at the time promised that he will undo any changes once he was elected. However, after he was elected, he qualified the promise a little by saying that he would conduct wide-ranging public consultation before deciding on the ultimate course of action.

The last paragraph of the article accurately represents these facts, I believe. If you feel the lead needs to be re-touched, please do so - I think both references 2 and 39 should be cited. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 14:10, 17 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]