A Taiwanese reservoir built by a Japanese engineer during Japan’s colonial rule of Taiwan could be a World Heritage site with Japan’s help, Taiwan’s representative to Japan has suggested.
Koh Se-kai (許世楷), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, made the call in a speech delivered on Friday to a group of academics and business executives in Kanazawa, capital of Ishikawa Prefecture.
Noting that Taiwan and Ishikawa have a special historical link, Koh said the Wushantou reservoir in southern Taiwan’s Tainan County was built by Yoichi Hatsuta, an Ishikawa-born engineer.
“Hatsuta built the reservoir, the greatest of its kind at that time in Southeast Asia, using the semi-hydraulic-filled-dam construction method,” Koh said, adding that its 16,000km-long canal and drainage system have made the Jia-Nan plain covering Tainan and Chiayi counties the rice basket of Taiwan.
“With its rich historical, cultual and technological significance, the reservoir deserves to be listed as a world heritage site,” Koh said.
However, Taiwan cannot file an application with UNESCO on its own as it is no longer a member of the world body.
“Against this backdrop, we need your assistance to realize the ambitious goal,” Koh told his audience.
Filing an application for UNESCO World Heritage status on behalf of another is permissible, Koh said, adding that France has, for instance, asked the UN-affiliated organization to list 23 historically important buildings scattered across seven countries around the globe as World Heritage sites.
All 23 buildings were designed by the internationally renowned 20th century French architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965). Among them is the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, which was completed in March 1959 as a symbol of the resumption of ties between Japan and France after World War II.
“If you take pride in the construction of the Wushantou reservoir, you should not hesitate to lend a helping hand,” Koh urged.
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