A Chinese-style wooden sailboat will soon return to Taiwan for the first time since it made a historic trans-Pacific journey to the US 57 years ago, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Wen-yen (邱文彥) said yesterday.
The boat, Free China (自由中國), which was built and launched in Keelung in 1890, was found abandoned in San Francisco in 2009. Taiwanese boat enthusiasts wrote to then--premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), telling him that the vessel was about to be dismantled, Chiu said.
Free China left Keelung Port in April 1955 to take part in a sailing competition in the US, but missed the race because of its lack of modern equipment and storms along the way. It arrived in San Francisco in August that year.
Photo courtesy of Chen Ling-li
The boat was donated to a US museum after the journey, but later ended up in a private shipyard, where it was found in 2009.
The Taiwanese government’s decision to ship the vessel back was announced in November last year by Chiu, who was part of a team sent by Liu to assess the boat’s value as a cultural asset.
Chiu said ownership of the boat has been transferred to the government, and the estimated NT$7 million (US$237,360) needed to bring the vessel back has been secured.
Apart from its historical value, the vessel can help shed more light on ancient boat-building techniques and can be of benefit to archeological studies on shipwrecks, Chiu said.
Free China is set to return to Taiwan this year once the details have been sorted out, Chiu said, adding that he hopes it can be unveiled on the World Ocean Day on June 8, or the Taiwan’s Maritime Day on July 11.
The boat will be on display outdoors at the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology in Keelung, Chiu said.
More money will be needed to fund an indoor display in order to protect the boat from damage by natural elements, he said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS