The Yilan County Government has applied to the Ministry of Culture for NT$100 million (US$3.3 million) in subsidies to restore World War II-era Japanese fortifications as cultural heritage and tourism sites, it said.
If the project is approved, it would be funded by the tourism component of the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, the Yilan Cultural Affairs Bureau said.
During WWII, the Japanese military saw Yilan as a potential landing site for an Allied invasion of Taiwan.
Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Taipei Times
During the final years of the war, kamikaze pilots used Yilan air fields, which spurred the building of fortifications.
Many of the Japanese empire’s wartime military facilities still stand in Yilan, including coastal fortifications between Jhuan Creek (竹安溪) and Yilan River (宜蘭溪), protected hangars in Yilan City, Luodong (羅東) and Suao (蘇澳), and underground command centers dug into the mountains overlooking the Yilan Plain.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau said the restoration program would involve surveys of the nation’s WWII military installations in various states of repair, as well as historical research and engineering projects.
The nation has many WWII military installations and only those that are certified heritage sites and are in dire need of repair are to be listed for the restoration program, Yilan Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lee Chih-yung (李志勇) said.
“WWII military sites in Yilan have deep historical and cultural value and the bureau’s proposed program would help their conservation and restoration, and maximize their tourism potential,” Lee said.
Meanwhile, historical conservationists recently accused Jhuangwei Township (壯圍) of damaging a WWII-era bunker by building a scenic observation platform over the structure, but the bunker was not listed for conservation, Lee said, adding that the revitalization project was carried out under the condition that its reversible.
The bunker did not have any heritage status and many local residents complained that it was ugly and should be put to use, Jhuangwei Mayor Chien Wen-kuei (簡文魁) said, adding that the platform has not damaged the bunker, but it would attract tourists.
Since the bunker is untouched, the platform could be removed if the bunker were granted heritage status, he said.
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
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
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