A sizeable Republic of China (ROC) map in the Legislative Yuan showing Nanjing in China as the capital has been replaced by a collection of maps depicting Taiwan throughout the past 400 years.
The original “begonia” map, so named because it resembles a begonia leaf, depicts an extended swath of ROC territory, notably including Outer Mongolia.
As it hangs near a busy stairwell on the second floor of the Legislative Yuan compound’s Red Building, the map often serves as a backdrop for media interviews.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-ling, Taipei Times
It has often drawn criticism for being anachronistic, but the legislature has delayed replacing it citing the absence of a correspondingly large map that better reflects current reality.
However, the opening yesterday of an exhibition hall in the Legislative Yuan Assembly Affairs Museum’s Democratic Discussion Park in Taichung has afforded the legislature an opportunity to find the map a new home.
As the exhibition is to move to the Taipei legislative compound today, the map has been taken down and given to the museum.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) yesterday invited the public to “read” Taiwanese history through the new display.
It is as though excerpts from a textbook were gathered on one board, allowing the viewer to consider Taiwan through the locus of its history, Chen said.
The juxtaposed maps offer a view not only into the different countries that have converged on Taiwan, but more importantly into the ways Taiwan’s position has been differently viewed by the world, she added.
The display includes the famous map made during the Kangxi Emperor’s reign at the turn of the 18th century, as well as Dutch, English, Belgian, French, Italian and German depictions of Taiwan between 1580 and 1864.
Maps after 1895 were created by Japanese colonial rulers, with another notable addition showing a map of Taiwan’s forests made just after the ROC assumed governance in 1946.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
RSS