The UN has rejected an application from Taiwan to have a collection of oracle bone scripts listed as a world documentary heritage item, a UN official said on Friday.
The collection, preserved by the Taipei-based Academia Sinica's Institute of History and Philology, was not nominated for inclusion in the Memory of the World Register for next year because China had already made two submissions, the maximum number allowed by each country, according to Joie Springer, an official at the Secretariat of the Memory of the World Programme.
Taiwan is not recognized as a country by the UN and is not a member of the organization.
Springer suggested that Taiwan could consider making a joint submission with China in the future.
The program, established by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1992, is aimed at the preservation and dissemination of valuable archive holdings and library collections worldwide.
Every even-numbered year, the program accepts up to two submissions from each country. The program's International Advisory Committee then meets the following year to decide on the new items to be included on the register.
The next committee meeting is scheduled for next year, which means that new submissions will not be accepted again until 2012.
The two submissions by China that have been nominated for inclusion are Ben Cao Gang Mu (本草綱目, Compendium of Materia Medica) and Huang Di Nei Jing (黃帝內經, Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon).
National Cultural Association secretary-general Yang Tu (楊渡) said in Taipei that he was surprised Taiwan's submission was not nominated this year.
On the suggestion of making a joint submission with China, Yang said the issue would require careful deliberation in light of the sensitive nature of cross-strait relations.
Institute of History and Philology director Huang Chin-shing (黃進興) expressed regret over the outcome, which he blamed on China's obstruction.
The oracle bone scripts are ancient Chinese characters inscribed on oracle bones — animal bones or turtle shells used in divination in China between 1400BC and 1100BC. The script is considered a forerunner to modern Chinese characters.
To date, about 5,000 oracle bone characters have been identified, although only 1,500 of them are recognizable. Academia Sinica holds the world’s largest collection of oracle bone scripts.
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