There are no government plans to rename the National Palace Museum, museum Director Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) said yesterday.
At a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee in Taipei to review the museum’s budget for next year, lawmakers asked Wu to respond to rumors that have spread during the past week about possible changes to the museum.
The rumors claimed that the museum, which is a second-tier agency of the Executive Yuan, is to become a third-tier agency of the Ministry of Culture, and that its name would be changed.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Before the budget review session began, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wan Mei-ling (萬美玲), a convener of the committee, in her opening remarks called on Wu to address concerns that if the museum were to undergo a status change next year, it could affect the execution of the proposed budget.
Some of the news reports on the issue have been “completely misleading,” Wu said.
While the Executive Yuan has asked him about how other countries handle administrative arrangements for important museums such as the National Palace Museum, a name change was never discussed, he said.
The budget proposed by the museum was based on the tasks it expects to carry out next year under the existing situation, Wu said.
However, even if the museum were to be reassigned to the Ministry of Culture, those tasks would remain the same, he added.
Responding to Wan’s question about whether he would stay on as director of the museum if it is reassigned, Wu said that it would be decided by whoever holds the power to appoint the director.
That power currently lies with the premier, he added.
Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) also said that there have been no discussions about changing the name of the museum.
There was also no issue of a “desinicization” of the museum, he said, adding that regardless of the museum’s organization, its global status would remain unchanged.
KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) wrote on Facebook on Sunday that he did not agree with rumored plans to change the administrative status of the museum.
He described a possible reassignment of the museum to the Ministry of Culture as a “downgrade,” and said that KMT lawmakers would ask government officials to explain why a change was needed.
Additional reporting by CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
RSS