Taiwan’s 1st Comfort Women Statue Unveiled

August 14, 2018

Tainan, Taiwan- A ceremony was held in Tainan, southern Taiwan, on Tuesday to unveil the statue of a girl symbolizing the issue of so-called comfort women, who were forced to sexually serve Japanese troops before and during World War II.

This is the first permanent installation of a comfort women statue in Taiwan, which was under Japanese rule until the end of the war.

In a speech during the ceremony, former President Ma Ying-jeou demanded that the Japanese government make a formal apology and provide compensation to former comfort women in Taiwan. Two of them are still alive.

The statue, created by a Taiwanese artist, represents the agony of the oppressed people and their resistance, according to Ma.

In April, the statue was erected by a group backed by Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang, or the Chinese Nationalist Party, within the premises of the party's local branch. The group plans to cover the cost of some 700,000 Taiwanese dollars, or about 2.5 million yen, with donations.

Around the site, there remain several structures of the Japan-rule era, attracting many Japanese tourists.

By establishing the statue to stir up anti-Japanese sentiment, the opposition party aims to boost its popularity in the southern city, where the ruling Democratic Progressive Party enjoys great support, ahead of unified local elections in November, observers said. Jiji Press