A protest organized to demand the National Taiwan University (NTU) return cultural artifacts and human remains that had been excavated from the Peinan archeological site in Taitung ended peacefully yesterday when the school agreed to speed up the return process.
About 400 residents from eastern Taitung County staged a demonstration outside the Legislative Yuan to protest against what they called the Ministry of Education's "conniving" with NTU to "commandeer" the historic artifacts.
Displeased with the agreement reached between the ministry, the NTU and the National Museum of Prehistory yesterday morning, protesters then proceeded to the university to vent their anger by throwing betel nuts at its front gate, which was being blocked by security guards.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
While the NTU had originally planned to return all the artifacts and remains to the museum in four shipments by 2008, all sides agreed that they should be returned in three shipments by the end of next year. The first shipment from the school was delivered on Tuesday.
An additional clause was added to the agreement, that immediate delivery of all artifacts should take place if the NTU fails to make good on its promise.
The museum, completed in 2002 in Taitung, was established to house and display the artifacts and remains excavated from the site in 1980 when the Southern Cross-Island Highway was being built.
The NTU has been in charge of the excavation and study project.
Ho Shew-song (
"If the NTU had not broken its promise, as they had planned to do in the first place, we wouldn't have been here," he said.
Ladu Guna (李家霖), a Taoist master of the Amis tribe in Taitung's Tungho Village who cast a spell on the betel nuts, said that the group's petition is peaceful and sincere in nature and they hope that their message will get across.
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