The National Property Administration (NPA) is set to enact a new measure today to encourage private investment in the restoration of cultural heritage sites under its jurisdiction.
The NPA owns 80 cultural heritage sites around the nation — including 47 classified as “historical monuments” and 33 classified as “historical architecture” — among them famous structures such as the Chien-kuo Brewery (建國啤酒廠).
The leased historical sites could potentially become cafes, galleries, museums or other facilities.
The move is not without precedent and cultural heritage experts say that past experiences in leasing out heritage sites have drawn mixed results.
Following the footsteps of municipal governments in Greater Tainan and Taipei, the NPA said it would start accepting applications from private firms and nonprofit organizations that are willing to rent heritage sites under its jurisdiction.
The NPA said it would offer investors rent incentives for a five-year lease on the condition that they take responsibility for the restoration of the historical site.
Cultural heritage expert Ling Tzung-kuei (凌宗魁) said that most cultural heritage sites in Taipei are wooden structures that date back to the Japanese colonial era, leading to high restoration costs.
With the Department of Cultural Affairs short of funding to conduct restoration projects on its own, government agencies have a tendency to prioritize private investors with sufficient funding, Ling said.
“Smaller organizations that place importance on bringing out the innate values of cultural heritage sites are not always successful in their bid,” Ling said.
He added that public agencies such as the NPA are often “perplexed” when their buildings are designated as cultural heritage sites, as they lack expertise in handling such sites.
Meanwhile, cultural preservation groups yesterday demanded the government designate Jiahe New Village (嘉禾新村) — a recently vacated military dependents’ village near Taipei’s Gongguan (公館) area — as a temporary historical monument, to protect historic architecture in the village from vandalism.
Led by members of Jiahe Studio, cultural preservation activists said parts of the buildings, such as iron windows, fences and even entire roofs, have been stolen by hardware dealers for profit, wreaking damage to historic architecture.
“We are afraid that the village won’t be able to make it through the transition period of another three months,” Jiahe Studio spokesperson Yu Liang-kui (郁良溎) said. “The walls and floorboards of many buildings have been ripped apart by dealers to obtain wires inside.”
A cultural heritage evaluation in October was postponed after judges said they lacked access to many buildings in the village, with many buildings still under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense.
As the ministry is set to relinquish ownership of the buildings later this month, the evaluation would most likely stay in limbo until next month, Yu said, adding that designating the village as a temporary historical monument would protect it from further damage.
Although the village was vacated in late October to make way for a large park, activists say it should be preserved as a reminder of the unique lifestyle and culture generated by the mass influx of postwar immigrants who settled in Taipei.
Clustered along winding alleyways, the majority of houses in the village were constructed in the 1950s by military personnel who arrived in Taiwan after the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) defeat in the Chinese Civil War.
Many houses in the village were built through alterations made to existing structures that belonged to a short-lived military maintenance compound set up by the now-defunct Combined Services Forces. Several wooden structures dating back to the Japanese colonial era are also dispersed throughout the village.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai