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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by