Taiwan is to donate five red cypress logs to assist Japan with rebuilding Shuri Castle in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
At least seven buildings, including the main structure at the World Heritage Site burned down, likely due to an electrical fault, in October 2019.
Japan asked about the possibility of Taiwan donating timber from its plantations, as the original castle was built with Taiwanese cypress, the ministry said in a news release.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Taiwan has long banned logging in natural forest areas, the ministry said, adding that its plantations are managed by the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency.
The conservation agency regularly thins the forest to maintain an ecological balance, and the thinned timber is stored in lumber yards, the ministry said.
The government has agreed to donate five of the red cypress logs that were thinned in 2020 to Japan, in compliance with regulations governing exports of forest products, the ministry said.
In 2020, Taiwan’s plantations produced 256.98m3 of red cypress, and the five logs donated to Japan would total about 3.86m3, it added.
The donation would not affect the market for Taiwanese red cypress or environmental protection efforts, the ministry added.
The Taiwan-Japan Relations Association and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association would sign a donation agreement, after which Japan would apply to the agency for a document of approval to export the timber and complete the customs declaration process, it said.
In December 2019, the government donated ￥3.5 million (US$24,519) and the Ryukyu Overseas Chinese Association based in Okinawa donated ￥2 million to help rebuild Shuri Castle, it said.
When Taiwan was battling its worst COVID-19 outbreak during the pandemic, Japan donated 4.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the nation, the ministry said.
Taiwan’s donation of cypress timber demonstrates the profound friendship between Taiwan and Japan, it said.
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