Starting next week, the changing of the guard ceremonies at Taiwan’s Memorial Hall dedicated to the island’s first president, Chiang Kai-shek, will be relocated outdoors. This move is part of Taiwan’s national initiative to discontinue the veneration of authoritarian figures.

Instead of taking place around the monumental statue of Chiang Kai-shek inside the Memorial Hall, the ceremonial military performances by Taiwanese honor guards will now occur on Taipei’s Democracy Boulevard, adjacent to the iconic blue and white memorial structure housing Chiang’s 21-foot bronze statue.

The Ministry of Culture of Taiwan underscored this decision as a step towards promoting transitional justice, stating, “Eliminating the worship of a cult of personality and authoritarianism is our current objective.”

Chiang Kai-shek, along with his nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) forces, relocated to Taiwan in 1949 following their defeat in the Chinese Civil War against Mao Zedong’s Communists. While once celebrated as an anti-communist figure, perceptions of Chiang Kai-shek in modern Taiwan have shifted, with many regarding him as an autocratic leader responsible for widespread political repression and violence during his rule.

Since his death in 1975, Taiwan has embarked on a process of reevaluating his legacy, symbolized by the relocation of hundreds of statues and the renaming of the island’s main international airport. This ongoing reassessment reflects evolving views among Taiwanese youth, who increasingly associate Chiang’s era with authoritarianism, contrasting sharply with Taiwan’s current democratic identity and its tense relationship with mainland China.