Tainan has obtained central government approval to fund an archeology project at Fort Zeelandia that would examine communal life at the fortified Dutch settlement, city officials said yesterday.
Fort Zeelandia and the town of Dayuan (大員) were the foundation for urban life in modern-day Tainan and played a key role in the history of Taiwan, the Tainan Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage said in a news release.
The archeology research is part of the agency’s project to reconstruct the historical site and NT$5.06 million (US$179,783) has been allocated by the Ministry of Culture’s Bureau of Cultural Heritage toward the effort, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Tainan Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage via CNA
Shortly after reaching Taiwan in 1642, the Dutch East India Co built the fort in modern-day Anping District (安平) as an important foothold to protect its supply chains, which spanned two oceans, the agency said.
The fort marked the beginning of Taiwan’s entrance into the network of global maritime trade, and Taiwanese Aborigines, Chinese, Japanese and Europeans took part in shaping this historical event, it added.
The ethnic groups living in and around the fort clashed with each other, but also collaborated on shared interests, which set into motion the processes that created modern-day Tainan and Taiwan as a whole, it said.
Past studies of the fort were hindered by limited scope, as efforts were confined to the fort proper and new structures had been built over most of the areas of interest, it said.
National Cheng Kung University, in partnership with the Tainan City Government, has over the past two years explored areas on the periphery of the fort, including Shihmen Elementary School and Sword Lion Square (劍獅埕), it said.
Earlier this year, a research team from the university located outlying walls and a sewage system on the west of the fortification — these had rarely been mentioned in historical documents, it said.
The result of the team’s work showed that on-site research could fill in gaps in the fort’s historiography, it added.
The project would provide a fuller understanding of Fort Zeelandia, which has played a crucial role in Taiwanese history since its founding 400 years ago, the agency said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
RSS