Tainan campaigners call for renaming of Zhongzheng Roads

Tainan campaigners call for renaming of Zhongzheng Roads

2023-02-21

Now, to the question of Taiwan’s most common road name. Can you guess what it is? There are 316 roads in Taiwan named Zhongzheng Road, after the former President Chiang Kai-shek. Zhongzheng is just one of several names the former generalissimo used in his lifetime, and many Taiwanese institutions bear the name. But now, a petition to remove his name from the streets is gathering momentum in Tainan. Campaigners say that Chiang Kai-shek’s legacy of authoritarian rule should not be celebrated. But lots of people who live on Zhongzheng Roads don’t want to change their addresses.

There’s a Zhongzheng Road in West Central District, and a Zhongzheng Road in Yongkang District. In fact, across Tainan’s 37 Districts, there are 38 roads which share the name. Only GPS can save visitors from the confusion.

But what GPS can’t resolve is the historical and political controversy over the name. The director of Siong Buan-sing Memorial Hall, Shang Yu-fang, has launched a petition calling for all the Zhongzheng Roads in Taiwan to be renamed.

Shang Yu-fang
Siong Buan-sing Memorial Hall
In Germany, they don’t have any Hitler Roads. But Zhongzheng Road is the longest road in Taiwan. And in any case, our country has enacted a transitional justice law.

In 2022, Tainan City government made plans to rename the first 100 meters of the Zhongzheng Road on which the National Museum of Taiwan Literature sits. It was to be christened “Tang Te-chang Boulevard”, after the Tainan lawyer and 228 Incident victim. But some local residents objected to the proposal.

Resident of Zhongzheng Road
It’s a lot of hassle, of course it is. We’d have to change our labels, a lot of our promotional materials. I don’t think it’s not worth the hassle.

Resident of Zhongzheng Road
Zhongzheng Road reads nicely. I’ve lived here more than 70 years. It’s not right to change it.

Resident of Tainan
This is a question of right and wrong. We should get rid of this mistake.

Tien Ling-hu
Tainan City government spokesperson
The stance of the city government is that we’re strongly aligned, and we want to support residents in conducting this survey. The administrative process of renaming the road can only be carried out with consent from two thirds of the local households.

The campaign to remove Zhongzheng Road is hoping to draw on widespread public support for their petition. But Tainan City points out that renaming roads is a privilege of District Offices. The residents of the road in question must opt in – this is not a campaign that politicians can easily push through.

台南38條中正路全台最多民團籲移除威權路名

2023-02-21

你知道全台灣有幾條中正路嗎？答案是316條，其中台南就有38條，居全台之冠。商滿生紀念館執行長商敏芳夫婦發起移除中正路行動，呼籲台南市政府主動移除紀念威權人物的道路名。市府表示，理念上認同，但更改路名必須由道路上的住戶提出，要超過三分之二的人同意，才能更改。

中西區有中正路，永康區也有中正路，台南37個行政區就有38條中正路，外地人會不會搞不清楚啊。

導航可以解決路名重覆的問題，但卻解決不了歷史問題，商滿生紀念館執行長商毓芳夫婦發起移除中正路行動，呼籲政府移除全台灣的中正路。

[[商滿生紀念館執行長商毓芳]]
"在德國也沒有一個叫做希特勒路啊，但台灣的中正路卻是全台灣最長的一條路，然後再加上本來我們國家有立法的促轉條例"

其實去年台南市政府就曾經打算，將國立台灣文學館所在的中西區中正路前100公尺更名為「湯德章大道」，以228受難者取名，不過遭到當地部份住戶反對。

[[中正路住戶]]
"當然是一個很大的困擾啦，我們上面的布標啦，我們很多宣傳啦什麼都要改掉，覺得這個沒有很大的意義啦"

[[中正路住戶]]
"中正路讀起來也很好啊，我在這裏住了七十幾年了，要改也不適應啊"

[[台南市民]]
"這個是是非對錯的問題，把這個錯誤移除掉"

[[台南市政府發言人田玲瑚]]
"市府的態度也是非常的認同，也願意協助居民來做這樣的調查，要有三分之二以上戶長的同意，才能來進行更名的行政程序"

移除中正路行動聯盟發起連署，希望號召民眾力量，但市府表示，更改路名屬地方公所權責，由住在該條路的住戶決定，想要政治解決恐怕不容易。

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