Minister of Culture Hung Meng-chi (洪孟啟) on Monday promised the Taitung County Government that the ministry would assist in efforts to have the Basiandong Historical Site (caves of eight deities, 八仙洞遺址) listed as a potential world heritage site.
Basiandong, on cliffs facing the Pacific Ocean in Changbin Township (長濱), is made up of dozens of natural sea caves that are the result of erosion carving out softer rock.
They are scattered among 150m-tall cliffs that were pushed up due to the upward motion of the Earth’s crust in the area.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
In 1968, geologists and archeologists discovered in the caves evidence of a Paleolithic pottery culture — which was later named the Changbin Culture — the Taitung Bureau of Cultural Heritage said.
Basiandong is the oldest prehistoric site to have been found in Taiwan, with researchers saying it dates back to 30,000 years ago, and it has been designated a national heritage site.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chao-hao (劉櫂豪) said at the legislature that Basiandong has the potential to become a world heritage site.
Liu asked the ministry to help facilitate the process by adding the site to a list of 18 potential world heritage sites in Taiwan, which includes Fort San Domingo in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水).
If Basiandong is added to the list, it will be the third potential world heritage site in the county, after the Peinan Archeological Site in Beinan Township (卑南) — the largest-known ancient stone coffin burial ground in the Pacific Rim area — and Orchid Island (蘭嶼, also known as Lanyu).
The government is continuing to promote Taiwan’s cultural and natural assets to earn “world heritage” status, which refers to sites, groups of buildings, monuments and natural environments of outstanding universal value listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the bureau said.
The Taitung County Government has to submit an application to the bureau for review as the first step in its bid to get Basiandong on the UNESCO list.
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
‘OFFSHORE OPERATIONS’: Also in Dallas, Texas, the Ministry of Economic Affairs inaugurated its third Taiwan Trade and Investment Center to foster closer cooperation The 2025 Taiwan Expo USA opened on Thursday in Dallas, Texas, featuring 150 Taiwanese companies showcasing their latest technologies in the fields of drones, smart manufacturing and healthcare. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the event’s organizer, said the exhibitors this year include Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn), the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer; AUO; PC brand Asustek Computer; and drone maker Thunder Tiger. In his opening speech, TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃志芳) said he expected Texas to become a world-class center for innovation and manufacturing as US technology companies from Silicon Valley and Taiwanese manufacturers form an industrial cluster
A 20-year-old man yesterday evening was electrocuted and fell to his death after he climbed a seven-story-high electricity tower to photograph the sunset, causing a wildfire on Datong Mountain (大同山) in New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林), the Taoyuan Police Department said today. The man, surnamed Hsieh (謝), was accompanied on an evening walk by a 20-year-old woman surnamed Shang (尚) who remained on the ground and witnessed the incident, capturing a final photograph of her friend sitting atop the tower before his death, an initial investigation showed. Shang then sought higher ground to call for help, police said. The New Taipei
RSS