The Taipei City Government has listed 141 dormitories that housed the US military on Yangmingshan during the 1950s as historical buildings and will preserve the compound as part of the city’s cultural and historical heritage.
The housing compound, located in Shanzihou Township (山仔后) on Yangmingshan, was built by the US military after the Korean War broke out in 1950. Twenty-two of the 141 dormitories were recognized as historical buildings in 2006. On Friday the city government decided to preserve the entire compound.
The adjacent building, which housed the South African embassy, and the location where the “Liu Tzu-jan (劉自然) Incident” occurred were also listed as cultural heritage sites by Taipei City’s Cultural Affairs Department during a meeting of the cultural assets review committee on Friday.
The “Liu Tzu-jan Incident” refers to the killing of Taiwanese Major Liu Tzu-jan by a US official in the 1950s. Taiwanese were furious over the killing and attacked the US embassy.
The committee members agreed that the housing compound in Shanzihou and adjacent buildings represented the period when the US military helped defend the nation, with the architectural style of the building being inspired by the southern US.
The local community in Shanzihou had been pushing for the department to preserve the housing compound after Bank of Taiwan, which was authorized by the government to look after the compound, said it planned to sell the land and buildings to a private owner in 2005.
Teng Wen-tsung (鄧文宗), a division chief at the cultural affairs department, said that in addition to the dormitories, streets and other buildings — including bomb shelters and a helicopter apron — would also be preserved and protected.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS