TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — National Chengchi University (NCCU) will remove a portrait of Taiwan's former dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from an auditorium and rename a bus stop associated with him.

The university approved a student proposal to take down Chiang's portrait from Siwei Tang Auditorium and change the name of a bus stop near an equestrian statue of Chiang, the student association said Thursday.

The university was founded in Nanjing, China, in 1927 to train cadres for the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army. Chiang was the first dean and many statues of him were erected on the campus in Taipei's Wenshan District.

Equestrian statue of Chiang Kai-shek near bus stop. (National Chengchi University Student Association photo)

But student groups have called for removing Chiang's vestiges because of atrocities he committed while ruling Taiwan under martial law. The university removed the lyrics of its anthem tied to Kuomintang ideology in 2017 and a bronze statue of Chiang in 2018.

The student association said the portrait honored Chiang as a dictator and was a "symbol of an authoritarian ruler." It also said the bus stop, named "Bronze Statue of Chiang Kai-shek," was closer to a staircase known as the "Hero Slope."

It successfully lobbied to rename the bus stop "Hero Slope Station" (好漢坡站).

Bus stop to be renamed. (National Chengchi University Student Association photo)