DPP legislator Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) yesterday said he suspects that some of the staff members of the National Taiwan Museum have helped to steal some of the museum pieces.
He said that a large number of Taiwanese cultural relics are missing from the museum's store rooms.
"According to my understanding, there are staff members within the museum who are collaborating with outside antique merchants," said Chen, during his inventory visit to the museum's storage area, located on Taipei City's Chingtien Street.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
By Chen's request, James An (安奎), director of the National Taiwan Museum, and Wu Mi-cha (吳密察), vice chairman of the Council for Cultural Affairs, were also present at the site during Chen's inventory visit yesterday.
"It is unacceptable," Chen said as he spoke of the museum's dismal inventory monitoring practices.
"Based on the inventory list I have here, there are at least a thousand historical and cultural relics that are missing from the museum's store room -- some of these are being replaced," said Chen.
He added that relics such as weaponry, paintings and Aboriginal crafts comprised most of these pieces.
"For example, according to the inventory list, there is supposed to be one original Aboriginal costume from early in the last century. But now the original is missing and has been replaced with a modern reproduction," he said.
"It has been almost fifty years now [since the museum was taken over from the Japanese]," Chen said. "Yet, in all this time, the museum still hasn't finished listing items that are included in a collection of more than 25,000 relics contained in this storage room."
Chen based his estimate on historical figures that describe how the museum, Taiwan's oldest, was taken over from the Japanese in 1945 with approximately 50,000 cultural and historical relics.
"It is just simply ridiculous that all these cultural relics are locked inside the storage room instead of being out there in the museum for public display and appreciation," Chen said.
In response to the dissatisfaction that Chen expressed over the way the museum managed its collection, Wu said that the council would assign a task force within the next week to look into the matter.
Meanwhile, An said that it is his goal to completely finish the museum's inventory work within the next two years -- as well as to improve the condition of the storage room.
"Since the inventory work has not been finished, I cannot say for certain if museum members have done anything [illegal]," An said.
"However," he added, "if it is found that illegal dealings have taken place, the museum would definitely not hide it from the public."
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of