A petition to list Yilan County’s Turtle Island (Gueishan Island, 龜山島) as a county-level cultural heritage site was accepted on Wednesday, the county government said on Saturday, adding that the outcome would be decided within six months.
The petition was launched by former Turtle Island resident Chien Ying-chun (簡英俊), who said he wanted to preserve history and his childhood memories.
Records show that the island was first inhabited by people during the mid-1800s, and at its peak, was home to about 700 people.
Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Taipei Times
Yilan County Government negotiated the relocation of the island’s inhabitants in 1974 and the Ministry of National Defense closed it off for military purposes.
It was reopened to the public in 2000.
Chien, who lived on the island for 23 years before being relocated, said that the ministry had damaged property on the island without notifying the residents.
Yilan lost significant cultural heritage assets thanks to the ministry’s actions, he said, adding that the Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area administrative office is suspected of introducing foreign plants onto the island, which could affect local flora.
The administrative office said it considers the island an ecological preserve and has not attempted to develop it, adding that it hopes the tourist center will be exempt from the cultural asset petition so that it can be repaired.
The island has a unique culture, and unique tales involving a Kavalan princess and a “turtle general,” as well as other literature about the island, Chien said.
The island has significant and unique importance, to the people who used to live on it and to Taiwanese, and should not be allowed to be developed, he said.
The Yilan Cultural Affairs Bureau on Wednesday dispatched officials to the island for a preliminary investigation.
The county government said it would compile a report regarding the petition, which would be used as the basis for public hearings that it would hold at Toucheng Township (頭城).
No date has yet been set.
A cultural heritage review committee would be convened within six months of the bureau’s visit to the island to review the petition, the county government said.
Should the committee approve the petition, the island would become a cultural heritage site, it said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to