The Ministry of Education’s youth development administration granted Yunlin County camp volunteers a subsidy for their work last year revitalizing the now-deserted Jianguo Veterans’ Village (建國眷村) in Huwei Township (虎尾).
Jianguo Village Revitalization Association director-general Lu Yun-hsiang (魯紜湘) said the village is a large complex of four communities and had once been home to more than 5,000 veterans and their families. The village was mostly deserted in 2007, with only a few families still living in the area, she said.
Some of the buildings were dormitories originally built for Japanese naval air group pilots during the Japanese colonial era, Lu said, adding that since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) came to Taiwan from China, the village had been converted into units for veterans and their families.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Education
The village also has underground bunkers with telecommunication facilities, which were installed after the KMT came to Taiwan, Lu said.
“The village has seen cruel times, but it is modern history. It should not be forgotten,” she said.
Youth group member Liu Chih-chien (劉志謙) said that while efficient use of the land is a good thing in the eyes of governments, it means great changes to the living conditions and relationships of the few residents in the area.
“With our efforts, we hope to bring the village back into the spotlight,” Liu said.
Yunlin County Government Cultural Affairs Director Lin Yuan-chuan (林源泉) said the county government has listed the village as a “cultural settlement.”
The county government is applying to the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of the Interior for funding to conserve the village and revitalize the area, Lin said.
“The village and its history, especially its ties to Japanese naval air groups — many of which became Kamikaze pilots — are collective memories of the Huwei townsfolk,” Huwei resident Lin Hung-wen (林鴻文) said, adding that if the county government could conserve the area, he would be glad to see it.
During the latter stages of the war, the Japanese Empire resorted to suicide attacks on the Allied forces in the Pacific — mainly US forces — after having lost its aerial superiority in the theater following a crippling loss at the Midway Atoll.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
RSS