Wednesday, August 11, 2010

New NTD10 coins in circulation

The new NTD10 coin is the same size and weight as the old version. However, instead of an image of Chiang Kai-shek, the man who ruled Taiwan as a dictator between the end of World War II and his death in 1975, it shows Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水). Chiang Wei-shui never attained political office and died soon after his 40th birthday, but his belief in Taiwanese identity and self-rule are celebrated today.

Chiang, who was greatly inspired and influenced by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the Republic of China, co-founded two landmark political groupings: the Taiwanese Cultural Association in 1921 and the Taiwan People's Party in 1927. The former was suppressed by the Japanese colonial authorities in 1931, just before Chiang died of cholera.

The new freeway linking Taipei with Yilan (where Chiang was born) is called the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway, and there are city streets named after him in Taipei and Yilan.

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