Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers earlier this week proposed the creation of a new law to regulate cultural conservation efforts at the nation’s military villages, saying existing regulations are inadequate.
Military villages, known as juan cun, are residential compounds that were established to house soldiers and their families brought to Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) army in 1949.
DPP legislators Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉), Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) and Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) called for legislation to provide clear guidelines on the villages’ designation as cultural heritage sites, relevant property transfers and sources of funding for their maintenance and management.
The nation’s military villages were loci of vibrant multiethnic cultures and shared historical experiences, and should be considered cultural assets unique to Taiwan, Chiu said.
Kaohsiung has been an important region for the nation’s armed forces, hosting a number of bases and residential areas for military personnel, including army communities in Fengshan (鳳山) and navy communities in Zuoying (左營), which are recognized as cultural heritages, he said.
However, the air force’s Lecyun Village (樂群) and Sing Village (醒) in Gangshan (岡山) have not been recognized as military community cultural conservation zones, despite the Kaohsiung City Government designating them as heritage sites, Chiu said.
Conserving military villages should be the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture and local governments implementing the ministry’s plans, Liu said, adding that agencies such as the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance should be relegated to supporting roles.
Legal safeguards should be implemented to protect military village cultural heritage sites from land speculators, she added.
According to unnamed sources, the cost of turning Lecyun and Sing villages into cultural conservation areas has been estimated at NT$900 million (US$27.9 million).
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
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
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard