The Netherlands is to be the guest of honor country of the Taipei International Book Exhibition next year, Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) announced on Thursday during his visit to the European country.
Next year marks the 400th anniversary of the Dutch Republic’s establishment of partial colonial rule in Taiwan, as well as the beginning of Taiwan interacting with the world, Shih said in a Facebook post yesterday.
“We are not talking about celebrations or commemorations. We are talking about the importance of the year 1624 to Taiwan’s history,” he said. “We will not shy away from reflecting on colonialism, but the year is meaningful to Taiwan.”
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Culture
“Taiwan should hold its head high and be more active in communicating with the world,” he added.
Taiwan’s democracy and diversity have earned international recognition, so Taiwanese “should have confidence” to let the world understand the cultural achievements made by such a democratic and diverse society, he said.
The international community has been paying a lot of attention to Taiwan recently, which is an opportunity for the nation to introduce itself to the world through printed and audiovisual media, Shih said.
The ministry has supported hundreds of Taiwanese literary works so far to be translated into other languages, he said.
The annual exhibition features one country as the guest of honor each year. Former guests include Poland last year, France in 2021 and South Korea in 2020.
Dutch architecture firm MVRDV is to be in charge of designing of the Dutch pavilion in next year’s exhibition. The firm previously designed The Spring (河樂廣場) public square in Tainan and renovation of fruit and vegetable market in the city’s Sinhua District (新化).
Shih also said that he had instructed the Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris to promote Taiwan’s exchanges with European countries before next year’s Paris Olympics, as the “cultural Olympics” is also important.
The National Museum of Taiwan History is to collaborate with the Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands, to launch the “1624 Special Exhibition” next year, Shih said.
Accompanied by Rijksmuseum general director Taco Dibbits, Shih visited the museum and discussed the exhibition plans with museum officials.
An ancient book collection that documented the history of the Dutch East India Company is to be put on display for the first time in Taiwan at the exhibition, he said.
The Rijksmuseum granted permission for the exhibition to use several images of its paintings and cultural relics collections, including a painting by Dutch landscape master Aelbert Cuyp, he said.
After completing the trip to the Czech Republic and the Netherlands during his first visit to Europe as a minister, Shih departed for Paris late on Thursday.
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
RSS