President confers Medal of Chung Cheng

Chen conferred on former Judicial Yuan chief Weng Yueh-sheng a "Medal of Chung Cheng," a reference to Chiang's other name that people of Taiwan commonly use when mentioning the late president.

It is also the name the Chen administration is trying to remove from a plaque at the front gate of Taipei's Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall -- formerly the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall that was built in honor of the late generalissimo.

The so-called "de-Chiangization" campaign has also seen all military barracks remove his bronze statues that had been conspicuously displayed.

President Chen did not say much during the medal conferment ceremony.

Weng, who retired in October, said he felt honored to receive the medal, and that he hoped the country's judicial system would be healthy.

Delivering his farewell speech last month, Weng said the nation had witnessed the worst of Taiwan's political turmoil over the past few years, with serious confrontation between ruling and opposition parties.

He claimed the rule of law had been trampled by people who had been unscrupulously seeking to materialize their political goals.

He lamented that the credibility and authority of the judicial bodies had been repeatedly hurt.

Presidential spokesman Lee Nan-yang said the conferment of the medal followed the regulations, and the question concerning the appropriateness of such a medal would have to be tackled by the Legislature.

Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu from the main opposition Kuomintang said it would have been better for Chen to contemplate the meaning of Weng's farewell speech than honor the former judicial chief with a medal.

Legislator Yu Jan-daw from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party said he had already proposed to abolish some of the national medals of honor, including the one that Weng received.

Until the rules have been changed, the president's decision to confer the medals as stipulated by the regulations should be respected, Yu said.