The National Palace Museum (NPM) should reflect the history of East Asia from a Taiwan-
centric perspective to make it more relatable to Taiwanese, instead of allowing it to remain “a Chinese enclave,” newly inaugurated museum Director Chen Chi-nan (陳其南) said yesterday.
“Ask an Aborigine, a direct descendant of the earliest inhabitants of this land, to visit the museum and tell you if they feel the museum represents them, and none of them will say it does. The museum as it is now is a Chinese enclave and not a part of Taiwan,” Chen told a news conference in Taipei a day after his inauguration.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
His vision is to transform it into a Taiwanese museum by reinterpreting the objects on display and curating its exhibitions in a way that tells the history of East Asia from a Taiwanese perspective, he said.
The museum’s most famous artifacts had been transported to Taiwan by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government during the Second Sino-Japanese War, he said.
“Due to this historical coincidence, it has now become our responsibility to protect and preserve them. How much we value ancient civilizations is unrelated to their modern successors,” he said, adding that the cultural assets should be cherished, regardless of one’s political views.
Museums should be inclusive, which is why some of the finest artifacts from ancient Greece are housed in the UK and Germany, he said.
The NPM should follow the example of the British Museum in diversifying its exhibitions and celebrating cultural assets from other ancient civilizations, he said.
If granted a large enough budget, Chen said he hopes to expand the museum’s southern branch in Chiayi County to house exhibitions depicting Taiwan’s relations with other countries throughout history, such as Spain, Portugal and the Ryukyu Kingdom, he said.
“The problem with the southern branch is its location, which is not close to any urban area. We must have exhibitions on a wide range of themes that would take more than one day to see to attract visitors to go [out of their way to the museum],” he added.
While the National Palace Museum has stepped up its marketing efforts to target younger people, Chen said he would work to find the perfect balance between preserving tradition and appealing to young people.
“We will not go back to the old, traditional ways of promoting the museum, but we will not turn it into an amusement park just to attract visitors either,” he said.
When asked if the museum would consider collaborating with Beijing’s Palace Museum, Chen said: “We are happy to cooperate, if they are willing.”
However, Beijing might not be open to working with him because of his political views, he said.
TIGHTENED RULES: Employees in the affected sectors must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 1 or provide an exemption certificate, and they must undergo COVID-19 testing People working in sectors supervised by the education, economics, labor, and health and welfare ministries must be fully vaccinated by next month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. “Starting from Jan. 1, vaccination rules for workers at industries supervised by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare will be further enhanced,” said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman. New employees and those returning to work must provide a negative COVID-19 test result — an antigen rapid test, at-home rapid
NO ENTRY: The refusal to process Lithuanian goods at Chinese ports suggests that they have been ordered to do so by an official entity, a trade group head said The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the governments of other EU member states to jointly respond to Beijing blocking Lithuanian exports from entering China, as “Lithuania is not listed on the [Chinese customs] system as a country.” Lithuanian media Web site 15min.lt yesterday cited a Lithuanian wood exporter as saying that it was not allowed to unload its goods at an unnamed Chinese port. The company said that its Chinese partner cited customs authorities as saying that any merchandise or shipments related to Lithuania would be refused, effective immediately. Lithuanian timber exporter Sprusas confirmed that Lithuanian goods could be loaded
THREAT REMAINS: With cases rising in many parts of the world, the minister urged the public to continue complying with the disease prevention regulations Taiwan can be considered to have achieved “COVID zero” status, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday, despite the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reporting 21 imported cases of COVID-19, the highest number of daily imported infections reported this year. Chen, who heads the CECC, said no local infections or deaths were reported, but 21 imported cases were confirmed yesterday. The imported cases are eight men and 13 women who arrived from Belize, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and the US, Chen said. The highest number of daily imported infections last year was 25 cases on March 23, he
‘RESOLUTELY COMMITTED’: Sparking a crisis in the Taiwan Strait would be in no one’s interest, starting with China, the US secretary of state told a conference US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Reuters Next conference on Friday that Chinese leaders should think carefully about their actions toward Taiwan, warning of “terrible consequences” if China precipitates a crisis across the Taiwan Strait. In an interview, Blinken addressed multiple foreign policy challenges facing the administration of US President Joe Biden, including faltering efforts to repair the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine and the spiraling conflict in Ethiopia. Most acute might be China’s increasingly aggressive posture toward Taiwan. Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) has said tensions with China are at their worst in
RSS