Taiwan returns Chiang to memorial

Police barricaded the memorial while the name was changed

Taiwan has restored the name of the island's former ruler, Chiang Kai-shek, to a memorial hall, less than two years after it was removed.

Chiang's legacy is a contentious issue on the island, which split from mainland China when his Nationalist side (KMT) lost the civil war in 1949.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)took his name off the memorial hall in 2007 when they were in power.

The hall was built as a tribute to Chiang after his death in 1975.

The DPP removed his name from several landmarks and changed the name of the hall to the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall.

The DPP said Chiang was a dictator who was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Taiwan.

But others remember him as laying the foundation for Taiwan's current economic prosperity.

On Monday workers protected by hundreds of police changed the name back to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

The ministry of education, responsible for the monument, said the DPP had changed the name of the hall in 2007 without parliamentary approval.

The memorial has become one of Taipei's best-known landmarks and a popular tourist attraction.