A historic sailing boat that left Taiwan 57 years ago to embark on a voyage across the Pacific Ocean was brought back yesterday to cheers from an excited crowd that included the boat captain’s brother.
Teddy Chow (周傳鈞), the brother of the boat’s captain at the time, Paul Chow (周傳基), said he never thought the Free China would make it back to Taiwan after all these years.
The wooden sailing vessel was transported back to its home onboard a Yang Ming Marine cargo ship from Oakland, California.
“I really appreciate the help given by everyone- to bring the boat back to Taiwan,” said Teddy Chow, 88, who made a last-minute decision to also return home from Chicago to witness the event.
A retired Beijing Film Academy professor, he also arranged for some of his former students to be at the port to shoot footage for a documentary about the boat’s history.
The 23m long and 5m wide vessel departed from Keelung Port in 1955 on what was the first trans-Pacific voyage by a Chinese sailing boat, heading for San Francisco, California. It was carrying then-US vice consul Calvin Mehlert and five Taiwanese fishermen, three of whom have since passed away.
The boat is believed to be one of the oldest Chinese sailing boats built by ancient methods in existence and the only remaining one to have made the voyage across the Pacific.
It will need extensive renovation after having been abandoned at a private shipyard, before it can be put on display at a marine science museum in Keelung, said Stanley Wang (王壽來), director of the Council for Cultural Affair’s Headquarters Administration of Cultural Heritage.
Wang, who is in charge of the boat preservation project, appeared overcome by emotion as he watched the boat being lowered from the deck of the vessel that brought it back from the US.
He said he “felt like crying” when he touched the derelict sailing boat and thought of all the difficulties encountered over the past three years to get it back to Taiwan.
The voyage in 1955 represented the adventurous spirit of the nation, Wang said.
The boat’s return “not only signifies its value, but also embodies the history, culture and spirit of Taiwan,” he added.
The three surviving crew members and the relatives of the other two members are expected to attend a grand welcoming ceremony on July 11 in Keelung, said Lwo Lwun-syin (羅綸新), director of the preservation evaluation program for the boat.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and