China News  
A tale of two museums unfolds as Taiwan-China rivalry thaws

by Staff Writers
Taipei (AFP) Jan 11, 2009
The major museums of long-term rivals Taiwan and China are planning unprecedented exchange visits and could hold a joint exhibition as the once-bitter distance between them narrows.

In February, director Chou Kung-hsin of the National Palace Museum in Taipei plans to visit the museum's counterpart in Beijing -- or, precisely speaking, its predecessor from where most of the popular Taipei museum's rich collection of Chinese objets d'art and artifacts originated.

The visit, if realised, would mark the highest level contact between the two museums in the 60 years since Taiwan and China split at the end of a civil war.

While there, Chou and her delegates "will take a look at the collection of the Beijing Palace Museum and explore the possibility of future cooperation," said Fung Ming-chu, spokeswoman for the Taipei museum.

Cheng Xinmiao, head of the Palace Museum in Beijing's Forbidden City, would reciprocate the visit in March, she said.

The planned exchange of visits would have been unimaginable less than a year ago when Taiwan was ruled by then-president Chen Shui-bian of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who repeatedly irked Beijing with provocative remarks about the island's sovereignty.

But the tensions across the Strait have eased dramatically since Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) took office in May.

He policy of drawing closer to China has seen the introduction of direct flights and measures aimed at attracting more Chinese tourists and easing restrictions on the island's China-bound investment.

"President Ma has made it clear that he wants to normalise ties between Taiwan and China," Fung said.

The attempt to promote bilateral cooperation seems to have got off a good start.

The Beijing museum has agreed to lend its Taipei counterpart 17 artifacts to enrich an exhibition slated for October on Emperor Yongzhen (1678-1735) of China's last imperial Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Fung said.

"The exhibit could also be jointly sponsored by the two sides, with details of the cooperation waiting further discussion," she said.

The 17 pieces will include portraits of the emperor dressed in Western clothes and as a Tibetan Buddhist monk.

"We have never had Yongzhen portraits such as these in our collection," Fung said, mindful of the frequent comparisons between the two museums.

The Taipei museum boasts more than 655,000 Chinese artifacts spanning 7,000 years from the prehistoric Neolithic period to the end of the Qing dynasty.

"The two museums are complementary," another official of the Taipei museum said on condition of anonymity.

But the notion that Taiwan would be lending anything to Beijing any time soon was met with derision by Fung, as there is no guarantee of its return.

There is no judicial agreement between the two sides that they would not attempt to keep any items on loan from the other, and the Taipei museum fears their artefacts could be held up by Chinese authorities who still regard the island as part of its territory and so claim ownership of the treasure trove.

"That is something we'll have to negotiate before our stuff can be displayed in Beijing," Fung said.

The National Palace Museum was founded in Beijing in 1925 and its treasures -- considered by former KMT Chiang Kai-shek to be a crucial symbol of China's political legacy -- were crated up and moved around China during World War II and, later, the civil war between the nationalist KMT and the communists.

Chiang's KMT troops were defeated by the communists led by Mao Zedong and fled to the island in 1949, where they established the rival Republic of China.

The collection was shipped across the Taiwan Strait to Taiwan in 1948-49.

"It is the legacy of the bloody civil war," said George Tsai, political science professor at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei.

Each year around 10,000 Chinese tourists visit the museum to admire the treasures they regard as having been stolen by the KMT government.

The Taipei museum draws more than 1.5 million tourists a year.

Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Taiwan News at SinoDaily.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Taiwan echos China's call for end to hostilities
Taipei (AFP) Jan 1, 2009
Taiwan on Thursday reacted positively to Chinese President Hu Jintao's call for a truce with the island, in a further sign of rapidly improving ties between the formerly bitter foes.







  • China, US upbeat on future of bilateral relationship
  • Walker's World: Sarkozy and the Britons
  • Military Matters: Russian ally -- Part 2
  • China's Hu tells Bush Sino-US ties will remain strong: govt

  • Chinese toy makers must comply on safety despite crisis: US regulator
  • China adjusts 2008 record trade surplus upward: report
  • Climate Change Opens Northeast Route To Foreign Ships
  • China starts anti-dumping probes into European screws: govt

  • Emergency declared in Fiji as six feared dead in severe storm, floods
  • More than 20 jailed over 2007 China bridge collapse: state media
  • Search halted, dozens still missing after deadly Guatemala landslide
  • Thousands flood refugee camps after strong Indonesia quakes

  • Shenzhou-7 Monitor Satellite Finishes Mission After 100 Days In Space
  • China Launches Third Fengyun-2 Series Weather Satellite
  • China To Launch New Remote Sensing Satellite
  • HK, Macao Scientists Expected To Participate In China's Aerospace Project

  • Analysis: Central Asian energy in 2009
  • Analysis: African oil faces challenges
  • New technique 'banks' wind farm energy
  • No breakthrough as Japan, China discuss gas field

  • China steps up checks after bird flu death
  • Death toll in Zimbabwe cholera epidemic at 1,732: WHO
  • China reassures over bird flu, says no outbreak
  • Zimbabwe cholera epidemic death toll stands at 1,778: WHO

  • Bratislava restarts nuclear reactor to avoid blackout
  • Slovaks show 'readiness' with nuke power relaunch: Czech PM
  • Philippines revisits nuclear energy option at 'white elephant' plant
  • Slovakia says it might reopen nuclear plant if gas freeze lasts

  • China aims to increase coal production 30 pct by 2015: govt
  • Analysis: Spill sparks coal price debate
  • Thirteen trapped in flooded coal mine in China: state media
  • Six coal research projects selected

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement