The Executive Yuan wants the National Palace Museum in Taipei to be kept open during a proposed renovation from 2020 to 2023, spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said yesterday.
The remark came after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus earlier in the day said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was attempting to salvage its “bleak” outlook for the nine-in-one elections on Saturday next week by drawing up a plan to move exhibits from the museum to its southern branch in Chiayi County.
According to the museum’s meeting minutes unveiled by KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) at a legislative hearing on Monday, the museum’s main building is scheduled to be closed in 2020, with renovation work to be carried out from 2022 to 2023.
Photo: CNA
She yesterday said the DPP was trying to boost its prospect of winning the elections at the risk of damaging precious artifacts, “which is despicable and could affect the museum’s world ranking.”
Noting remarks by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at a campaign rally for DPP Chiayi County commissioner candidate Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁) on Sunday promising to lend her support to move exhibits by coordinating efforts between the central and county governments, Ko raised doubts over the museum’s plan to close for renovations, saying that few other world-class museums have suspended operations during such work.
The DPP has made every effort to push for desinicization, but, facing an uphill battle ahead of the elections, it has chosen to take advantage of the appeal of valuable artifacts to use them as “campaigning tools,” KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said.
He panned the DPP for not conducting an assessment of the effects such a plan would have on the nation’s tourism industry, saying that the museum draws about 5 million visitors each year — a number that he forecast would drop by 2 million if exhibits were moved to the southern branch.
Kolas said the Cabinet was inclined not to close the museum for renovations.
Closing the museum was never part of the approved “New National Palace Museum” initiative to renovate the museum, Kolas said, adding that according to the project’s plan, some of the museum’s staff and exhibits would be transferred to the southern branch.
The museum has not informed the Executive Yuan of any accompanying measures to cope with the planned renovations, she said.
Separately yesterday, National Palace Museum Director Chen Chi-nan (陳其南) said that closing the museum was only one of the options that had been discussed for the planned renovation.
While plans to cope with the effects have not been finalized, the museum expects to remain open during the renovations, he said.
The museum was still evaluating the plan to move some of its exhibits to the southern branch, he added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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