Restoration
KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou was elected the 12th President of the Republic of China on March 22, 2008. Ma had earlier pledged to restore the name of CKS Memorial Hall, the original hall contents (flags and guards), and the inscription on both the central gate and door. President Ma took office on May 20.
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The Ministry of Education ended the special exhibition on March 31, 2008. The kites will be sent on a touring exhibition overseas. Other exhibits would be placed in storage and the hall returned to its state prior to the shut-down. The Education Ministry of Education announcements tended to be low key.
In an interview after his election, Ma Ying-jeou said that the "illegal" renaming was "violent" and "of course, ineffective". He promised to conduct wide public consultation regarding the names of the square and the memorial before acting according to law to either restore the old name or complete any renaming processes.
The Executive Yuan on August 21, 2008, under the Ma Administration, officially restored the name "National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall" to the hall. The sign designating the hall a monument to democracy remained in place.
On January 21, 2009 Vice Minister of Education Lu Mu-lin (呂木琳) announced that the original plaque designating the hall as Chiang Kai-shek Memorial would be restored by the end of the summer at a cost of NT$1 million (US$29,700). The guard ceremonies in the statue chamber would also be restored. He admitted that the promised forum soliciting public opinion would not take place, saying such an event would only "increase tensions" and invoke backlash from the Taiwanese minority who align themselves with the DPP. Lu announced at the same time that Liberty Square would stand as the name for the plaza. "No changes will be made to it," he said, "as the square plays an important role in Taiwan’s democratic and cultural development." On July 20, 2009 the original plaque was restored under heavy police protection, but virtually non-existent media coverage before the event (since the attention was on the World Games 2009 taking place in the same time in Kaohsiung City in the Southern part of Taiwan).
Read more about this topic: Renaming Of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
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