The University of Edinburgh is to return the skulls of four Paiwan Aborigines who were killed in 1874, following requests from the central government, Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) Mayor Pan Chuang-chih (潘壯志) said on Friday.
Japanese soldiers originally took the skulls as war trophies when they fought Paiwan Aborigines in retaliation for the killing of Ryukyuan sailors in the Mudan Incident, Pan told a news conference in Mudan.
The remains changed hands twice before reaching the university in the same year, Pan said, adding that if the institution returns the skulls as planned, it would be the first time that human remains were repatriated to Taiwan.
The conference was held to discuss how the return would be handled to meet the traditions and wishes of the Paiwan community.
The Mudan Incident stemmed from the killing of Ryukyuan sailors, who were shipwrecked off the southern coast of Taiwan in 1871 while returning to Miyako Island after paying annual tribute to the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Naha. When the 66 people aboard the vessel entered Paiwan territory, they were attacked due to a misunderstanding, and 54 were killed.
The Japanese government sought compensation from the Qing court for the killings, but the court said that the incident was out of its hands. Japan then used the incident to challenge Qing sovereignty over Taiwan and in May 1874 sent a naval force to attack the Paiwan in retaliation.
During the conference, Pan reiterated his proposals to the Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Ministry of Culture to build a memorial museum for the incident in the township, saying that hopefully on the 150th anniversary of the incident in 2024, people would have a proper venue to learn about this important chapter in Taiwanese history.
Pingtung Cultural Affairs Department Director Wu Ming-jung (吳明榮) said that the department’s program to teach local people about the incident has ended, with more than 100 participants finishing the courses and activities in the nearly one-month training program.
These people are to volunteer to take visitors on tours of the historical locations related to the incident, as well as to teach them about local stories, in an effort to preserve the county’s tangible and intangible cultural assets, Wu said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS