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Ma promises to promote Taroko at UNESCO

Chinese Nationalist Party presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou tries to learn traditional Truku weaving in Hualien yesterday. PHOTO: YU TAI-LANG, TAIPEI TIMES

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday promised, if elected, to apply at the UN for Hualien's Taroko Gorge to be listed as a world heritage site.

"The government has already named the gorge a world heritage site, but never made an effort to file an application with the UN. I would apply with the UN immediately after being elected," Ma said yesterday during a visit to Taroko National Park.

Ma accused the government of devoting all of its efforts to promoting its UN referendum proposal and ignoring its promise to push for international recognition of the nation's historical and cultural sites.

Ma said that abusing government resources to apply for UN membership under the name of Taiwan was pointless because it would be rejected by the UN, adding that the UN was more likely to agree to naming Taroko Gorge a world heritage sites, as no political ideology was involved in the issue.

"The natural beauty and cultural significance of the gorge have nothing to do with politics. Recognizing the gorge as a world heritage site would not have political implications," Ma said.

Noting that Taipei's Bao-an Temple (保安宮) had received an honorable mention for the 2003 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award, Ma said UNESCO might recognize Taroko Gorge as a world heritage site, he said.

The Council of Cultural Affairs (CCA) adopted a World Heritage Day in 2001, joining an international campaign launched in France in 1984 to protect world heritage.

Eleven Taiwanese sites were recommended by a panel of historians, officials and communities as candidates for application to UNESCO, including the 23km Old Mountain Line in central Taiwan and Taroko Gorge.

CCA Chairwoman Weng Chin-chu (翁金珠) scoffed at Ma's comment yesterday, saying the council had been working to have Taroko Gorge and 11 other sites recognized by UNESCO as world heritage sites.

The work has hit a wall because Taiwan is not a member of the UN, she said.

Additional reporting by Jenny W. Hsu
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