National Palace Museum director Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) yesterday denied that the museum deliberately concealed incidents in which three artifacts were damaged.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Charles Chen (陳以信) yesterday told the legislature that staff at the museum dropped and broke two ceramic items, while Wu allegedly told staff to not officially record the damage.
Chen asked Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) to order an investigation into the report.
Photo courtesy of the National Palace Museum
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) also asked the premier about the circumstances surrounding incidents during the legislature’s plenary session.
“The museum is highly professional and important to preserving national artifacts... I don’t think [Wu] is that kind of person,” Su said.
Attending the meeting at the legislature, Wu said that three artifacts were broken, and staff reported the incidents immediately as per protocol.
The museum investigated the incidents while its Civil Service Ethics Office also probed how the episodes were handled, he added.
Two artifacts were found broken on Feb. 3 last year and April 7 this year while staff were organizing the collections, and another was dropped accidentally by a staff member on May 19, the museum said in a statement following the meeting at the legislature.
Upon receiving the reports of the damaged pieces, the museum director and deputy director ordered the civil service ethics office to investigate the cases, the statement said.
The office determined that the cause of damage to the first two artifacts could not be determined, while a committee has yet to decide how the employee in the May 19 incident is to be disciplined.
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