The Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs will restore the Grass Mountain Chateau according to its original structure and remake replicas of all exhibits after a fire seriously damaged the first official residence of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (
The fire, which caused damage estimated at NT$36 million (US$1 million), burned down the main exhibition hall and its exhibits.
While the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, the department announced yesterday it would form an emergency response team to inspect the damage and discuss detailed plans in an effort to restore the 87-year-old municipal monument this week.
Cultural and historical academics and specialists in Japanese-style architecture will be invited to join the team and visit the site some time this week after the report on the cause of fire is issued, the department said.
The Taipei City Fire Department said that the investigation team was looking into the cause of the fire by analyzing the samples of ashes. The report on the investigation will be issued two to three days later.
Department CommissionerLee Yung-ping (李永萍) said the department planned to reconstruct the chateau as per its original design and wooden structure.
As the department had a similar experience restoring the Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Institute (蔡瑞月舞蹈社) -- also a Japanese-style wooden house -- seriously damaged in a fire in 1999, Lee said it should be able to restore the chateau.
Lee said all the exhibits inside the chateau -- including clothes, pictures and documents belonging to Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, Soong Mayling (
The chateau was built in 1920 as a vacation home for Japanese Prince Hirohito and later became a summer retreat and the first of 27 residences for Chiang.
The Taipei City Government took over the administration of the chateau after Chiang died in 1975, registering the building as a monument because of its historical significance. In 2002, it was turned into an arts salon and a museum.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), meanwhile, said he was saddened by the incident because as Taipei mayor he had struggled to transform the chateau into an arts village.
In the wake of his party's recent anti-Chiang campaign, its stance on the restoration of the chateau has attracted attention.
"[The chateau] was there before [Chiang] used it as his official residence. It should not be regarded in the same light as [Chiang's official residence].We should [look at reconstruction] with a different frame of reference. It's a historical building," Chen said.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
RSS